The Naruto Games
by randompandattack
Summary: 24 characters from Naruto will serve as tributes for the twelve districts of Japan. They are forced to compete in the Hunger Games where they will fight to the death. At the end only one will be left standing. Who will survive? Come find out...
1. Reaping

**A/N: I'll be quick. This is a Naruto/Hunger games crossover. The rules are all the same with one exception that instead of being chosen from age 12-18, your name is only called if your 16. I did this since all the characters were the same age so it would've been rather strange for that to happen normally. There is no main character exactly, the story starts with Sasuke but goes to different character's perspectives. I wanted to do something a little different than your usual hunger games crossover where girl A takes the place of Katniss and it just follows the book. This is a little different. This story is rated T but I may bump it up to M later. I haven't decided. The title is a little unoriginal I know, but give it a chance! **

**The Naruto Games **

**Chapter 1**

District 7

Sasuke Uchiha was sixteen years old on the day of reaping. This is a day that everyone in the twelve districts in Japan has to experience once. This is a day everyone in the twelve districts fears more than any other day of their lives. The day they may be ripped from their hard but meaningful lives and forced into something with almost a guarantee will kill them. Most will be spared and allowed to go on but for two from each district they won't be quite as lucky.

Sasuke Uchiha has been preparing for this day since he was only ten years old.

Waking up at seven a.m. sharp he glanced at the calendar on the wall to see today's date circled. "The reaping" it read in black marker. Sasuke nodded slightly to himself. Getting up he got dressed in his usual outfit of a blue shirt and white shorts before finding something to eat in the kitchen.

He knew the reaping didn't start until noon but saw little reason to stick around. Knowing he would not be back he made sure to take care of anything he needed in the house before leaving. Unlike the huts most of the residents lived in Sasuke lived in a much bigger house thanks to the money his family has. Or had anyway; back when they were still alive.

The thought crossed his mind as he looked at the house for one last time. He gritted his teeth before turning around. It had all started seven years ago when his older brother Itachi had been picked for the hunger games. His parents had been devastated at the fate of their eldest son. Well, that is, until the games started.

Itachi started out normally enough by running and joining a small group. But when most of his group had been killed off something happened. No one was quite sure what, but Itachi snapped. There were twelve of them left when it happened, but by the end of the day Itachi was the only one left standing. He had killed all eleven of his opponents in a measly seven hours and was crowned one of the most successful winners of the hunger games yet.

People weren't sure what to expect of Itachi when he came back but it was obvious he had changed. He got into a lot of conflicts with neighbors and family members and the only one that he treated the same was his younger brother. Then a few months later it happened.

Itachi murdered his entire family and all his neighbors. The only person he spared was his younger brother Sasuke. A memory Sasuke would relive every day was finding his parents dead and his brother standing above their butchered corpses.

"I'm going to let you live Sasuke," he told the young boy. "Do you know why? Because you're already dead! You'll be chosen just like I was. It is inevitable." Those were the last words Sasuke ever heard his brother speak. He fled and was never captured. But despite the horror of what had happened Sasuke knew his brother was telling the truth. He would be picked. Random lottery or not the capital couldn't resist the younger brother of such a famous winner.

And so he had trained himself during these last six years. But it wasn't easy and he couldn't be sure if it would be enough to save him. But a promise is a promise, and Sasuke promised to avenge his family. But before he could kill his brother he knew he'd have to win the hunger games.

He reached the town square early and waited. The sun came up higher in the sky as time passed and the reaping approached. The square was packed and everyone knew it was time when the mayor came up to the town podium to ask the sixteen year olds to form two groups; one for boys and one for girls. Sasuke quickly made his way to the boys' line and waited until it was his turn.

They recorded that he was there and took a sample of his blood. Then they put a small piece of paper with his name on it and put it into the jar the mayor would pick a name from. He knew it was a ruse but went along with it. After everyone had been recorded they had to stay in the line to make it easier once one of them was picked.

"Welcome to this year's Hunger games!" The mayor Tsunade said sounding as hollow as possible. She had no choice but read the words of the capital for all to hear. "We will now be picking one girl and then one boy for the honor of being this year's tributes."

"And remember, may the odds be ever in your favor!"

The mayor stuck her hand in the girls' jar and pulled out a slip of paper. Opening it slowly her read the name in her head before speaking it out loud.

"Karin Kusagakure."

As always a few gasps were heard and whispering was heard among the girls but eventually a girl was pushed up onto stage. The girl had red girl and wore glasses. Sasuke noticed that unlike most girls she wasn't crying, but she was shaking rather noticeably. She was biting her lip as if afraid what could come out if she opened her mouth. Tsunade asked for volunteers to take her place but as usual no one did.

Then the mayor moved onto the boys' jar. Grabbing a piece of paper and opening it she read his name. "Sasuke Uchiha."

He almost laughed, but settled for a knowing smirk. There was some surprise among the crowd. Though he had no friends Sasuke was known for having a crowd of female admirers who weren't happy he was chosen. The guys' on the other hand didn't seem too bothered by this.

Making his way up the platform he could hear various things before shouted at him but he ignored them. "Would anyone like to volunteer?" Tsunade asked because she had to. To ignore this custom would be suspicious enough to wonder if the drawing had been fixed. And while a few brave teenage girls tried to volunteer for him no guy would so it didn't matter. Sasuke Uchiha would be competing.

"Shake hands." Tsunade ordered them. As the last Uchiha shook her hand he noticed the tinge of red on Karin's cheeks as he gazed at him. He however looked solemn and dropped her hand as soon as the handshake was over. Tsunade wasn't even looking at them but the crowd in front of her.

"District seven, I give you your two tributes!"

* * *

District 12

Naruto Uzumaki was starving. Literally.

He had not had anything to eat in days. He felt woozy standing there in the hot sun surrounded by people. It wasn't his fault. He'd love to be scarfing down bowls of food given the opportunity. But when you're an orphan in district twelve you tend to live your entire childhood with an empty stomach.

Naruto's parents had been killed mere days after he was born. He was never told why. Either because the people who worked at the orphanage he grew up in didn't know or because they didn't care. Whichever it was the blonde had lived his whole life never knowing the love of a parent. The caretakers at the orphanage were not loving and rarely showed any affection at all.

They also rarely fed anyone. Not wanting to sit around and starve Naruto would go out and try to steal some food. Sometimes he got away with it but he tended to get caught. And when he got caught, he got beat. Finally when he turned sixteen the caretakers had had enough of him and kicked him out for good. With nowhere to go he was out on the streets.

For a while he could get some food every once in a while from a nice man that ran a ramen stand that felt sorry for him. Sadly the stand was shut down and Naruto had no idea what happened to the nice owner or his daughter. Both had disappeared entirely. Not that that was strange in district twelve, but now Naruto had nowhere to go and nothing to eat.

He hadn't even realized that today was the reaping. He had been sleeping on the street and after he got up he was shepherded by some peacekeepers towards town square to get in line.

As he stood there waiting for them to call a name Naruto didn't feel very afraid. This was probably because he knew he was going to die soon of starvation and barely had the strength left to stand up. He watched as their mayor pulled the girls' names out of a bowl before calling it out.

"Sakura Haruno."

Naruto watched as a pretty girl with long pink hair dressed in a red blouse was taken up to stand beside the mayor. She looked nervous and scared; her eyes darted back and forth hoping, praying, that someone would have the decency to save her. When no one volunteered the girl tried to leap off the stage but was grabbed by two peacekeepers. They threw her back onto the stage and slugged her across the face. A red bruise started to form but the girl did not try to escape again.

The mayor tried to move past the interruption by picking the boy tribute's name out of the bowl next. The name was called. It wasn't Naruto's. Instead a tall boy with a fair amount of muscle on him was identified as the name's owner. He stood up and walked forward a few steps toward the stage. There was some talk among the crowd. The male picked this time was one of the few strong ones. Could he have a chance? Various people wondered optimistically if this year they might have a winner, or at least a chance.

They were of course all tragically disappointed when this boy made his way to the stage. They first noticed his knees were knocking into each other as he shook. Looking up they saw he had started to cry as tears ran down his eyes. "No please!" He said practically bawling. "Don't pick me! I don't want to die! I'm too afraid to fight anyone! Mommy!"

Nobody laughed at him but they sure didn't look happy either. Naruto just found the whole thing amusing and wondered if someone would actually volunteer to save this guy. It was then the idea struck him that he could volunteer. Everything he learned in school about the hunger games came back to him. Sure all but one died, but not before they got to eat like kings! If he was going to die either way, why not at least enjoy himself first?

"I volunteer!" he thrust his right hand into the air. As he hurried toward the platform people turned to look. Had someone actually volunteered? That never happened in district twelve. The male tribute was now sobbing in relief as he realized someone had volunteered and he was spared.

Naruto reached the stage where everyone could see him. They were more than surprised to see the person who had volunteered was a poor blonde kid. He was short and thin and wore an old orange jumpsuit that had seen better days. But despite this he did not look afraid.

"You…volunteer?" The mayor asked hesitantly. Naruto nodded. "Who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

The mayor nodded slightly. "Alright then shake hands." He told the two tributes. Sakura cringed as she had to shake Naruto's dirty hand. "I now present district twelve with its two tributes!"

They were quickly rushed off the stage by peacekeepers and a few minutes later found themselves in a locked room in the mayor's house. Naruto knew this was the part where the tributes said goodbye to their family one last time before going off to die. Right now Sakura would be saying a tearful goodbye to her mother and father. Naruto on the other hand had no one so he just sat there bored waiting for it to be over.

Thus he was quite surprised when a few minutes in the door creaked open. Turning to look Naruto saw the teenager he had volunteered to take his place walk into the room. He wasn't crying anymore and seemed to have calmed down. He looked a little nervous standing there and didn't immediately say anything.

"Umm can I help you?" Naruto asked wondering if the guy had the wrong room.

"You already did," the teen smiled. "I just…I just wanted to thank you for volunteering. You saved my life!"

"Oh that, don't worry about it." Naruto shrugged. "I didn't do it for you anyway."

"I wanted to thank you," the boy gulped. "You're allowed to take one item with you into the games. If it's okay with you, you can take this." He opened up his right hand and dropped a coin into Naruto's.

The blonde picked up the coin and looked it over. "What is it?"

"It's a good luck charm that's been in my family for a long time. It's a coin with a crow on it." Naruto could see for himself that on both sides of the coin was the image of a crow gazing forward.

"Yeah I guess I'll take it." Naruto said shoving it in his pocket.

"It'll give you good luck." The boy told him. "Well, I should go. They told me I had to be quick. Good luck…okay?" Then he left and Naruto was alone again.

Five minutes later the peacekeepers came in and took Naruto with them. They were glad he didn't try to resist like many other tributes. Instead he followed behind them at a quick pace until they reached the train where they made sure he got on. As the door shut Naruto felt relieved that he was alone.

Turning around he gasped. The train cart was designed to look like the richest most comfortable home Naruto had ever seen. Scratch that, this was easily better than anything he had ever seen. Sakura was right behind him and looked almost as surprised as he did.

They walked further in and saw a dining table with a man sitting at the end of it. The man had a scar across his nose and looked vaguely familiar to Naruto. Sakura knew who he was immediately. It was Iruka, one of the two people from district twelve to ever win the hunger games.

"Hey you two," he said pointing a fork at them. "Come over here and sit down." They walked over slowly and sat down across from each other. "You look hungry. Have something to eat." Iruka said as he started to cut through the meat on his plate with a knife.

Naruto looked at the table full of rich, expensive and delicious foods and started to drool. He quickly filled his plate with food before immediately stuffing large chunks into his mouth. The blonde never had much for manners but as he ate with abandon they were all but gone. Iruka watched him eat but didn't seem too surprised. Sakura on the other hand looked rather disgusted. She had filled her own plate with food and was eating but not like that.

"How can you eat like that?" She talked to him for the first time.

Naruto stuffed another roll in his mouth before answering. "It's easy! I haven't eaten in three days!" Suddenly he realized his stomach was trying to throw up all the food he had eaten as he wasn't used to it. But he covered his mouth with his hands and pushed it back down. He would not allow himself to throw it all up.

Sakura tried to eat with more manners than Naruto but couldn't help eating much faster than she normally would. She had never starved but often didn't have enough food and rarely experienced a full belly. Iruka watched them eat in silence. He waited a few minutes before saying anything.

"Well as you've probably figured out by now I'm the trainer for district twelve's tributes. This means I'll be helping you get sponsors and train before the games begin."

"You are?" Naruto said finally pausing from eating.

"What, are you stupid? Everyone knows that." Sakura said annoyed. "Iruka won the games eight years ago. He was the first to win from district twelve in over thirty years."

"I'm impressed you remember how long ago it was." Iruka rubbed the back of his head. "But yes, I won, and it's been my job since to try to prepare tributes for the games."

"Can you…help us?" Sakura asked nervously staring at her empty plate.

Iruka gently placed his hand over hers. "I'll do my best Sakura." He turned to Naruto. "That goes for you too Naruto. You surprised us all out there. It's been near a decade since we've had a volunteer."

"Why did you volunteer?" Sakura asked.

"It's simple," he answered. "I was hungry. Starving actually. I knew I was going to die until I remembered they fed the tributes for the hunger games. I'll still probably die but at least this way I live a few more days and get some good meals out of it."

Iruka chuckled a little and rubbed his nose. "I like your attitude Naruto. It looks like this year's tributes have a little more spunk than usual."

Suddenly the television behind them turned on and a special broadcast started to play.

* * *

District 8

_Just my luck_, Shikamaru thought to himself. _Out of all the sixteen year olds in district eight I somehow ended up being the one guy who got picked! The statistics are so low I had a better chance of getting struck by lightning_.

Shikamaru Nara was the name of the male tribute recently chosen from district eight. He had just said his final goodbye to his mother and father before they were taken away by the peacekeepers. Now it was just him and the female tribute left alone in that room in the mayor's office. Shikamaru turned his head to look at her.

Ino Yamanaka was still crying even after getting to talk to her parents. When her name was called she had started to sob uncontrollably about how unfair it was. Shikamaru agreed with her there but her crying was getting to him. Of course, at least it wasn't loud anymore. No she stood there with her long platinum blonde hair dressed in purple wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Shikamaru had his dark hair pulled back and tied. He wore simple dark clothes and an old vest that used to belong to his father as he leaned against the wall waiting for the peacekeepers returned for them. It wasn't long; they weren't allowed to leave the tributes alone anyway.

The two teens followed behind as they were taken to the high speed train that would take them all the way to the capital. The trip would only take about a day or less since they weren't from one of the last districts.

District eight had had a few victors over the years and the man assigned as their mentor was named Asuma. He had won fifteen years ago and was a heavy smoker. The rumor was he spent most of the money the capital gave him on cigarettes.

When he walked into the room in the train where Shikamaru and Ino were eating he had a lit cigarette in his mouth. The smell turned Ino off of her meal but Shikamaru ignored it. Just as he tried to ignore Asuma.

So you two brats are this year's tributes huh?" He asked picking at some of the food on the table.

Ino nodded as she watched him. Her eyes were still puffy from earlier but she had no more tears to cry. "Are you going to help us get sponsors?"

"It's my duty to explain everything to you but don't expect much more than that from me." He said straight out. "No one I've helped as ever survived the games so don't expect me to save you."

Ino looked like she was going to cry again. Shikamaru would rather she didn't so he spoke up. "What a troublesome mentor. He'll probably leave us for dead once we get in there."

Asuma blew smoke into Shikamaru's face. "Don't kid yourself boy. No one's going to want to sponsor a smart-alec brat like you."

Shikamaru stood up. "I don't expect anyone's help." He walked away from the table over to the room that was set up for him. It was much nicer than the one he was used to so he quickly plopped down in the bed and didn't bother to get undressed.

An hour later the door to Shikamaru's room opened and Ino stepped inside. One of Shikamaru's eyes opened and he looked at the blonde wondering what she was doing. "Hey Shikamaru…"

"What?" He said getting to his feet.

"Help me," she said as she threw her arms around him.

"What? What are you doing?" Shikamaru was not the kind of person to be surprised easily however he had little interaction with women beyond his mother and wasn't sure what to make of this.

"I can't do it alone." She admitted to him. "Help me. Please. We can be a team," she stared at him with her big eyes.

"We barely even know each other," he reminded her. "Why should I?"

As if expecting this she reached up and kissed him suddenly on the lips. When she pulled back she looked more confident but he wasn't buying it. "Hey!" he said pushing her back. "Don't belittle me. I'm not one of those boys that follow you around like a puppy. Don't expect me to just fall into your lap just because you know how to use sex appeal."

She hugged him tighter. "Oh please Shikamaru! Please! This is life or death here!"

"Okay fine," he sighed. "How troublesome. We'll be allies for now but don't expect too much out of me."

Ino nodded. She then told him that Asuma wanted him back in the dining room where the capital was going to broadcast the twenty four sixteen year olds chosen as this year's tributes.

"Your late," Asuma grumbled as the two walked in. The television had already started and the host for the hunger games was on screen talking. The host was the handsome silver-haired man Kakashi.

"And now for what you've been waiting for. Our twenty four tributes have been chosen! We'll now be showing them to you from district one through twelve." They started with district one like they always do.

Shikamaru and Ino watched all twelve including their own. Viewing was mandatory but this time it was especially important as these would be the same people they would be expected to fight and kill in order to survive. There were a few tributes of interest.

District one certainly was interesting. Though nowhere near the capital it had quite a few rich families that lived there and were of some importance. One of most prominent being the Hyuga family. District one never had a real drawing; just volunteers. And this year the leader of the Hyuga family offered up his own child and nephew to compete in the games.

Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga both had claims to be the next leader and in order to determine who would get to lead the family they had both been forced to join the games. The survivor would lead; that is if either of them managed to survive. Shikamaru noticed the boy seemed confident and strong while the girl was frail and shaking.

The tributes from district three and four looked to be real contenders. Shikamaru reminded himself that they were probably trained for this. There was quite a commotion in district six as both contenders, a boy named Kiba and a girl named Tayuya tried to fight the peacemakers. Kakashi commented how they'd be interesting once the games got started.

There was a lot of dissent in district ten when a good looking boy named Haku was chosen. Even stranger he told people not to throw away their lives by volunteering to take his place. A few people in the crowd cried as he was dragged away. And then there was district twelve where a poor boy had actually volunteered to help a complete stranger. This was always noted whenever it happened (which wasn't often).

At the end there was a list of all the tributes:

District 1: Neji and Hinata

District 2: Rock Lee and Tenten

District 3: Dosu and Kin

District 4: Kankuro and Temari

District 5: Shino and Amaru

District 6: Kiba and Tayuya

District 7: Sasuke and Karin

District 8: Shikamaru and Ino

District 9: Gaara and Matsuri

District 10: Haku and Sasame

District 11: Chouji and Shion

District 12: Naruto and Sakura

* * *

**A/N: A few notes. Karin doesn't have a last name so I gave her one based on her supposed village. I considered Uzumaki but that's Naruto's so I thought that would be unlikely. There is a little romance in this story but I try to keep the plot first. Ino's awkward seducing of Shikamaru is not really romance, more her attempt to procure an ally out of her fellow tribute. Sorry if that came out really awkward. The mentor's won't have a big role but they'll show up a few times. This story will continue to switch between the perspectives of different districts until the hunger games start. Sorry about that. Also I need to give credit to fellow fanfic writer Mrs. Pettfer and her story "The black games" (check it out) which inspired Neji and Hinata's backstory from Zuko and Azula's in her story. **

**What did you think? Reviews are appreciated. **


	2. Training

**The Naruto Games**

**Chapter 2**

District 1

Hinata gazed sadly out the window of the train as it sped into the capital. She had not wanted to be a tribute. She had not wanted to enter the hunger games. The shy girl with dark blue hair was not particularly good at anything other than staying out of her father's way. She knew she had never lived up to his expectations so she preferred to spend her time alone where she wouldn't get in anyone's way.

So when her father volunteered her along with her cousin Neji for the hunger games she knew exactly why. He wanted her dead so Neji could lead the clan. He was always going on about how much better it would be if Neji was his son instead. Her father knew Hinata could never win the hunger games and that even if Neji died he'd still have her little sister Hanabi who was already more qualified than her.

_Maybe dying won't be so bad_, Hinata thought to herself. _Maybe it'll be quick and then I'll be at peace_. She sighed. As the train entered the city she saw crowds of people from the capital were cheering as the train pulled in. They were shouting and waving trying to get a look at this year's tributes. For some reason teenagers sent to their deaths was nothing more than entertainment to them.

Hinata felt embarrassed as they all stared at her. She waved for a moment before quickly putting her hand down. Turning to her right she saw Neji wasn't paying them any attention at all. He had spent the whole ride talking to their mentor trying to memorize exactly what he would need to do to get as many sponsors as possible.

When the train pulled in they were led out into the evening breeze where a crowd watched on both ends. They were led past the crowds and into the large hotel that was set up specifically for the hunger games. Each floor was designed for the tributes from that district but they weren't going there now. Hinata knew they were being led away to, as their mentor called it, "make them all pretty". The shy girl shuddered.

She was taken into a room separate from Neji where her prep team was waiting. The prep team was three women with heavy modifications to their bodies and plenty of makeup. The first thing they did was strip her down and scrub her clean. They did this twice to make absolutely sure and they did it rough so Hinata's skin was red afterwards.

Then they went about cutting her hair, cleaning her nails, removing any marks or anything else they could think of. After they cleaned her hair the next thing they did was to remove all the hair off her body. Not caring at all for the pain they were causing the poor girl they made quick work of ripping the hair off her legs.

"Aahhh!" A short cry escaped her lips as they ripped more hair off. She had tried to be quiet but wasn't used to that kind of pain. Biting her lip a few tears ran down her face as she tried to hold it in. Her prep team however was not impressed.

"Oh God, she's a whiner. I hate the whiners."

"Why do we always get the whiners?"

"These little brats are so ungrateful! We do all this work on them and all they do is cry and bitch!"

It went on like this for a while as Hinata laid there helpless until the whole thing was finally over. She was then taken to another room where she waited wearing nothing but a white gown. The room was cold and she wished she could wake up from this nightmare when the door opened.

A woman with (modified) red eyes and long dark hair walked in. "Hello Hinata," the woman said reading her name off the chart she had brought with her. "My name is Kurenai and I am your personal stylist. I'll be working with Neji's stylist to find you two a look for the parade. But first I need to take some measurements."

Hinata stood still as Kurenai pulled out some measuring tape and used it to cover the length of Hinata's body. The adult woman didn't say anything as she inspected the teenager but nodded and occasionally groaned. A few minutes later it was over.

"Alright I got what I need. You can go to dinner with your fellow tribute now." The shy girl was handed her clothes back and after getting dressed she was led over to the first floor reserved for her district. Neji was already there eating along with their mentor. Hinata quietly sat herself down. Feeling miserable she started to eat.

* * *

District 2

Rock Lee couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Here he was being forced to compete in a sick game where he'd be forced to murder people and now they were forcing him to wear a ridiculous outfit!

His mentor had seemed cool but his stylist's sense of fashion was lost on the boy. His fellow tribute Tenten didn't seem very happy about their costumes for the parade either. He had tried to talk to her a few times since they had both been chosen as tributes but she had remained mysteriously silent for most of the train ride. Though he had heard her scream out in anger when the prep team was working on her.

She caught his gaze and noticed he was looking at her. Sighing she decided to say something. "This sucks."

"Yeah?"

"It's not enough that we're going to die; they have to humiliate us first."

"At least it'll be over soon," he said optimistically. "I just wish they'd get on with it."

Suddenly the doors opened and the two were told to get ready. "Looks like you got your wish." Tenten said as they both stood poised on their chariot.

A minute later the chariot started to move and they soon found themselves on a road as crowds of people stared at them and cheered. Everyone could see their embarrassing bright yellow outfits with sparkles and feathers as they made their way through the parade.

Thinking to lighten the mood Rock Lee grabbed Tenten's hand. She immediately ripped her's back. "Don't even think about it!" She threatened him.

"I only meant to give a better show," he explained. "So we could get sponsors."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Fine…" Rock Lee grabbed her hand and waved it in the air with his own. The crowd cheered for them as they did this.

The parade and all the tributes riding in it carried on for two miles before reaching the capital's square. There the chariots all formed a circle around the square so no matter what side you were on the crowd could get a good look at least a few of the tributes. Then the president, Orochimaru, stood up to give his yearly speech about the Hunger Games.

Rock Lee listened at first but it turned out to be the same as always and he found himself losing focus. Eventually he stopped paying attention altogether and instead observed the other tributes. They were all dressed in ridiculous outfits the people from the capital made them wear. Some of them looked tough, some looked weak and there were a few Rock Lee wasn't sure about.

He managed to catch the speech just as it was ending so he tried not to look surprised as the chariots lead them away. The parade was over. Now he knew the silly stuff had ended and they could get down to training.

* * *

District 12

After the parade was over Sakura and Naruto returned to the hotel where they rode the elevator all the way to the twelfth floor. The pink haired girl changed out of her costume and took a shower before getting changed back into her old clothes. They felt comforting. Like a reminder of home. A home she may never see again.

The room they had given her to sleep in was as big as the house she lived in back in district twelve. She could even order whatever she wanted to eat and it was instantly appear. She tried this out a few times before getting full. Tired and exhausted she fell into her comfortable warm bed and soon fell asleep.

When she woke up she left her room and headed to breakfast. Naruto was already there eating so she joined him. Iruka showed up a few minutes later drinking a hot cup of coffee. "You two will be starting training today." He told them. "Now do you want to train together or separately?"

Naruto shrugged. "Either way." So Iruka looked at Sakura.

"Separately."

"Okay then," Iruka finished his coffee. Once they finished breakfast they rode the elevator down and he led them to the training room. All the other tributes were already there waiting. Iruka couldn't go in so he bid them good luck.

Upon walking inside someone put a sticker with a twelve on Naruto and then Sakura. The room where they trained was large and divided into many sections for the different things they could practice. There were areas for building a fire, finding edible plants, camouflage, and multiple areas each dedicated to a different weapon.

"I'm going to check out the weapons." Naruto announced.

"See you later then," she said quietly before walking over the area where she could learn how to identify edible plants. She had seen many of them before and had a long discussion with the trainer about telling the difference between similar looking plants. When she thought she had learned enough she moved away.

Not sure where to go next she quickly spotted Naruto. He had been trying to learn how to throw knives but hadn't been all that successful. As Sakura watched he decided to go over to the swords area. No one else was there so Naruto picked up a sword and looked it over. He was about to practice swinging when someone shoved him to the floor.

"Out of my way," Neji said picking up a longer, sharper sword. "I need to practice."

"Hey what the hell is your problem?" Naruto said loudly as he pulled himself back to his feet. "You don't just shove a guy when he's carrying a sword."

"You were in my way." Neji said not bothering to actually look at Naruto.

"Yeah I was," he admitted. "Because I got there first!" The blonde could tell they were making a scene and the other tributes had stopped to watch them.

"Would you stop talking to me? Practicing with a sword won't do you any good anyway. You're still going to die." He said coldly.

"What?" Naruto gritted his teeth as he started to get really angry. "You don't know that! I stand just as good a chance as you."

Neji chuckled. "You're weak. It is the fate of people like you to die so someone great like me can win. Know your place."

Sakura was getting frustrated just watching this so she went up and stood beside Naruto. She turned to Neji. "Shows how much you know! A spoiled brat from district one would probably starve right away. But guys like this idiot," she poked Naruto in the chest, "He knows what true hunger really is. He'll easily outlast you!"

The prodigy from district one glared at the girl but instead of answering her he gripped his sword and threw it as hard as he could at the dummy against the wall. It cut right through the dummy's head. Neji then walked away.

"Geez!" Sakura huffed. "What an asshole!"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "But uhh thanks."

"Oh sure," Sakura said realizing what she had done. "I guess you could try this now." She said handing him a sword. And from that moment on they became friends; or at least comrades.

Sakura decided to practice swinging a sword too. After that she convinced Naruto to try learning how to build a fire. They were knee deep into it when the girl noticed something. She almost missed it but caught it right at the edge of her vision.

"Hey Naruto…" she said getting his attention.

"What is it?" He looked up.

"You see that girl over there?" She pointed to the shy girl Hinata who was standing in the corner not doing anything.

"Yeah, so what?"

"I think she's been watching us. Or watching you maybe." Naruto squinted as he looked and Hinata moved away when she realized she'd been spotted.

"Weird…"

Not long after all the tributes stopped for lunch. There were various tables set up and most people ate either alone or with the person from their district. Naruto and Sakura sat down at a table to eat but Naruto was looking at the other tributes. Specifically a group in the front sitting together.

"Hey why are those guys all eating together?" He asked his companion. "They're not from the same district."

Sakura looked up from her warm food to see the tributes from one, two, and four were sitting together. "Well those are the elites, duh."

"The elites?" Naruto asked confused.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes, the elites. They're the tributes from the strongest districts that group together and kill a large portion of the others off in the games. Usually one of them wins. Didn't you know that?"

"I guess not," he laughed sheepishly. "But shouldn't that girl be with them?"

Naruto was pointing to Hinata and for once Sakura found that strange. She was the female tribute from district one yet she was sitting at a different table eating all alone. "I don't know…" She answered.

Meanwhile Sasuke was just starting to eat lunch himself. His training had gone well and he was feeling pleased until he felt someone looming over him. It was Kankuro, the male tribute from district four. He was probably the biggest one of the tributes and he seemed even scarier dressed in all black.

"Hey Sasuke," he said in a deep voice. "Come eat with us. Neji said a guy with your skills would be useful."

The raven-haired teen smirked. "Tell Neji I work alone. I have no interest joining his group and being one of his pawns like you."

Kankuro clenched his fists as he glared at the smaller teen. But as much as he wanted to he didn't make a move. "You'll regret that once the games start. You better hope I'm not the one who finds you."

He went back to the rest of the elites with his bad news. Sasuke didn't care; he just continued to drink his soup. He only looked up when someone sat across from him. It was that redhead Karin; the other tribute from district seven.

"Didn't you hear what I told that guy? I'm doing this alone. Go away."

Karin didn't budge. "No, no, I get it. You don't need anyone else. I could see it when they called your name. It was like you knew they would pick you." She paused before continuing. "You're going to win." Karin stated. "I can tell. Let me help you, I can do things. Get things for you; guard you at night while you sleep."

"And then what?" He said abruptly.

"And then you can kill me." She smiled.

"…we'll see." Sasuke stood up. Finished with eating he decided to return to training.

Training continued that afternoon as all twenty four tributes tried to teach themselves not only how to survive but how to kill. They were all in different areas. Tenten learned how to throw a spear while Haku learned camouflage. Gaara learned how to make a trap while Chouji built a fire. Temari practiced her bow and arrow skills and Ayame practiced throwing knives. The Hunger Games were coming and they had to be prepared.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are appreciated.**


	3. Interview

The Naruto Games

Chapter 3

After two days of training the twenty four tributes were expected to show their skills in front of a group of judges who would give them a score from one to twelve. Some of them knew exactly what they were going to do while others were unsure. All of their mentors kept reminding them how very important this was as their score would influence whether anyone would want to sponsor them.

It went in order from district one going first to district twelve being the very last. The boy went first and then the girl. The first to go was Neji who had the judges' full attention as he showed his skills in multiple weapons. Hinata was next to go and she was less confident as she tried to make a good impression.

Rock Lee and Tenten were next with at least some success. What Dosu and Kin did was a mystery but Kankuro and Temari had mixed results. Shino managed to surprise the judges though Amaru's medical skills less so. Next Kiba and Tayuya went followed by Sasuke and Karin.

Shikamaru managed to use his intellect to his advantage. Ino went after him then Gaara and Matsuri. Next was Haku and Sasame followed by Chouji and Shion until finally only Naruto and Sakura were left. They were both nervous; more so because they had to go last.

"Nervous?" Naruto asked his companion.

"A little," Sakura admitted. "Know what you're going to do?"

"Not really," he laughed. "I'm just going to wing it."

She sighed, "That won't get you any sponsors."

"Hey I'll get some sponsors!" he told her confidently. "Believe it!"

Just then Shion came out. Naruto knew it was his turn now. Taking a deep breath he stood up and walked over to the room the judges were in. "Good luck." Sakura told him. He nodded before opening the door and going in.

Now Sakura was alone and nervous. Staring at her hands she worried about how if she screwed this up it could mean the difference between life and death. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head and her hands felt clammy.

Twenty minutes later Naruto came out and waved her in. Her knees felt shaky as she walked in. The judges looked bored after having seen all the other tributes try to impress them so Sakura knew she'd have to be amazing just to get their attention.

Usually someone showed their skill with a weapon in order to impress the judges. Building fires and identifying plants was considered boring by the judges. Especially for the later tributes. Sakura had found during training that she had a bit of a knack for throwing knives and things so she decided to use that.

There were all different kinds of weapons placed so the tributes could use them along with targets. Picking up a half dozen knives she stood in front of a target. Concentrating hard she threw one of the knives and while it missed the middle it was close. She threw another and this one hit the center dead on.

Turning to look at the judges she noticed none of them were paying much attention at her at all. They were either eating or talking amongst each other. She noticed there was a protective barrier around them to protect them against any angry tributes. Turning back Sakura tried to keep her cool. She moved over to the other targets and put a knife in the dead center of all of them.

But still no one was paying any attention to her. That or they just weren't impressed. Angry Sakura picked up a small axe and considered flinging it at one of the targets but then changed her mind. Turning to face the judges she flung the axe straight at them.

As the sharp weapon hurdled toward them they cowered in fright despite knowing they were safe. They were so surprised they couldn't help it. The axe hit the protective barrier, bounced off, and hit the nearest target dead center.

Sakura bowed. "Thank you." Then she quickly left.

* * *

An hour after the last tribute went the scores were going to be shown on television for everyone to see including the people back in the districts. On the third floor Dosu and Kin waited together with their mentor Kabuto for their scores.

"So…" Kabuto said casually. "How do you think you did?"

"Ten," Dosu answered. "No wait, eleven. Maybe twelve."

"You didn't do that good." Kin sneered.

"Just wait," he shot back. "You'll see for yourself."

"It's starting," Kabuto announced. The program turned on. The host Kakashi talked for a few minutes before showing the list of everyone's scores by district. The scores read:

Neji: 11

Hinata: 5

Rock Lee: 8

Tenten: 8

Dosu: 9

Kin: 8

Kankuro: 7

Temari: 8

Shino: 8

Amaru: 4

Kiba: 8

Tayuya: 6

Sasuke: 11

Karin: 6

Shikamaru: 8

Ino: 5

Gaara: 6

Matsuri: 4

Haku: 6

Sasame: 6

Chouji: 5

Shion: 4

Naruto: 7

Sakura: 10

* * *

The next day was reserved for the all important interview. Kakashi the host would interview all twenty four tributes individually for three minutes. When the three minutes were over they'd move on to the next tribute and continue until they all had a turn.

All of the tribute's stylists had worked hard to dress them up. But unlike in the parade they wore fashionable suits and dresses that would appeal to sponsors. Their mentors did their best quizzing them on what to say and how to act. But soon it was time to start and they would have to do their best.

"So Hinata," Kakashi asked the shy girl. "How do you like the capital?"

"Oh well umm…" she stuttered. "I-It's okay, I mean it's very bright and colorful. And there sure are a lot more people here."

"What do you like best about the capital?" He asked Naruto.

"The food," the blonde answered. "Definitely the food. Best ramen I've ever tasted!"

"What do you think of your competitors?" Kakashi asked Temari.

"They look pretty weak to me." She answered. "I'm not worried."

"Who scares you the most?" He asked Chouji.

"Probably Neji," Chouji answered. "Or Kankuro. Sasuke looks intimidating too. To be honest they all scare me."

Kakashi looks Sasame right in the eye. "So Sasame, if you could say one thing to the people back home what would it be?"

The girl looked at the camera and started to get all teary-eyed. "I miss you Mom! You too Dad! I hope you'll be okay without me and please, don't forget me!"

"What do you think your chances are?" The host asked Dosu.

"Pretty high," the bandaged teen answered. "I know what I'm going to do unlike most of the idiots who will be running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"So Sakura, can you tell us what happened with the judges?" Kakashi asked the pink haired girl. Despite your size and demeanor you managed to score a ten. Can you tell us what you did?"

Sakura looked nervous. "I would love too but the judges made me promise not to. Sorry." She apologized.

"Well that's all right Sakura, but it looks like our time is up!"

* * *

After the interview was over the tributes were sent back to their floor where after getting changed they would try to get some sleep. The next morning they would be taken to an unknown location where the Hunger Games would start.

Shikamaru was restless that night. He tossed and turned but couldn't get to sleep. So instead around midnight he got up and made his way to the roof. To his surprise he wasn't the only one there. Ino, the other tribute from his district was already there.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked.

"Just looking out at the city and all the lights." She answered. "I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither," he sat down next to her. "I keep going over strategies in my head for tomorrow."

"You're pretty smart Shikamaru," she said looking into his eyes. "You might even win."

"Don't you want to win?"

"Yeah…but I don't think I will."

A moment passed in silence. Neither of the two of them said anything as they looked out over the city. "I'll…I'll find you." Shikamaru said breaking the silence.

"W-What?"

"I'll find you tomorrow," he repeated. "Don't go for the weapons. Just run straight away from everyone else. I'll find you before it starts and watch where you go and then I'll follow you. We'll survive together."

Ino smiled. "You mean it Shikamaru?"

"Yeah well I'll need an ally anyway…" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Thank you!" The blonde said suddenly hugging the boy.

"You should try to go back to sleep." He told her. She nodded, but before heading back to her room she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Shikamaru stayed up there a while longer before heading back to his own bed.

* * *

The next morning an alarm clock that had been set for all the tributes went off in Gaara's room. Turning it off the redhead took a shower and got dressed. The stylists had made a new outfit for each of the tributes that was supposed to best represent them but also have great maneuverability. Then he headed down to breakfast where his mentor and fellow tribute were waiting.

Matsuri was too nervous and could barely eat a bite but Gaara knew he would need his strength and tried to eat as much as he could. Once they were done their mentor took them to the ground floor where they lined up by district with the other tributes.

The line took them onto a waiting plane where they all sat down on either side. A female doctor was in the plane and as it took off she went around with a needle. "What's that?" Gaara asked as she got closer to him.

"Tracker," she answered. "So we can always know your location."

And then she stuck the needle in Gaara's arm. It hurt as the tracker entered his body but the pain didn't last long. Soon everyone had been given a tracker and the woman left to the cockpit. There were a few windows where they could see clouds and birds flying by.

The plane ride took an hour before they landed. They were led underground each into individual rooms. In each room was a guard. Aside from a seat there was a bottle of water. Gaara drank half of it before he heard the buzz coming from his right.

The tube that would take him into the game had buzzed from red to green. The plastic entrance had opened so he stepped inside. It immediately closed and the floor he was standing on took him up. He soon found himself in the bright sunlight. Looking around he saw the other twenty three tributes all standing in a circle with the cornucopia in the middle. The host's voice rang out.

"Welcome to this year's Hunger Games!"

* * *

**A/N: Short chapter I know, but now that we've got all that stuff covered we can really get into it! Expect people to die next chapter! Until then, reviews are appreciated. **


	4. Day One

The Naruto Games

Chapter 4

They had to wait sixty seconds on their platform. If they got off of it for any reason before that time a bomb would go off and kill them. Behind them was a thick forest filled with trees and possibly wildlife. In front of them was the cornucopia filled with weapons, food, and supplies that would keep them alive.

In less than sixty seconds the tributes would be set loose and an all out free for all for the weapons would start. Each one of them could feel their hearts beating against their chests knowing that in mere minutes they could be dead. Some of them were twitching in anticipation; others in fear.

The wait time was halfway gone. Shikamaru glances at Ino then toward the woods. Twenty seconds left. Sasuke spotted the weapon he was going to take at any cost. Only ten seconds left now. Matsuri looks around scared; unsure what to do or where to go. But then, there's no more time left.

"Start!"

A loud ringing noise fills the arena as the clock finishes counting down and hits zero. The ground is now harmless and it is safe to leave the platforms.

Sasuke sprinted forward, grabbed a sheathed sword without a guard and a nearby backpack and rushed back toward the woods. He slammed into Chouji as the bigger male approached him knocking him into Tayuya.

Ino immediately ran into the woods. Shikamaru was right behind her but first he rushed forward to grab a bag of supplies. As his hand gripped the bag someone threw a knife at him. He didn't look up but turned and ran. He knew they were still attacking as a knife whizzed past his face cutting his cheek open. A rush of blood dripped down but he didn't have time to stop it as he ran after Ino.

While Naruto had originally planned on running into the forest and meeting up with Sakura he found that pile of stuff way too tempting. So instead he ran forward and tried to grab something before the others got it. He found a bag full of supplies but as he picked it up someone else did at the same time.

Naruto couldn't tell who it was only that they were female. No words were exchanged; instead both of them attempted to rip it out of the other's hands. Suddenly the resistance disappeared and Naruto fell on the ground with the bag. When he looked up he realized why as the girl now had an axe halfway through her skull. A scream got caught in his throat and all he could do was pick himself up and ran away as fast as he could.

He didn't turn around when he heard someone scream out. Instead he ran faster and didn't stop when he reached the woods. He kept going past the trees and tried to ignore how tired his legs were. Ten minutes later the trees receded and he found a small lake. That's when he stopped walking and fell to his knees.

Naruto had only meant to catch his breath but as the image of the girl being killed in front of him played in his mind he threw up his breakfast on the grass. Moving away from the mess he got his feet in the water. Cupping the water in his hands he drank a few handfuls before splashing some on his face.

He knew he couldn't stay there long. A lake was an obvious place to stay and no doubt some of the others would find it soon. In fact he could hear someone approaching now. Grabbing his bag he turned left and ran off into the trees.

But he did not go far. Hidden among the trees he watched as a girl approached the lake. She had long blonde hair and was wearing purple. She didn't bother to look around but immediately started to drink from the lake.

Ino was surprisingly thirsty. She hadn't meant to run so far; not without Shikamaru, but after that scream, terror had gripped her heart and didn't let go until she had run herself ragged. Ino believed she was lost and by mere chance happened to find the lake.

"Well now what do I do?" She asked herself. "Is there any chance Shikamaru will find me here?"

Ino didn't know the answer to that question. Without any idea as to his location or supplies she decided to wait for him. Forty-five minutes passed in nervous silence until suddenly a cannon went off.

The blonde knew what that meant. A cannon being fired meant someone had died. At the beginning however they held off firing until everyone stopped fighting and then multiple cannons went off. After the first one, three more went off.

"That means…"

"Four people must be dead."

"Ahh!" Ino screamed in surprise at hearing another voice. But when she turned around she saw it was just Shikamaru coming out of the trees. He had a nasty cut on his face but otherwise seemed intact.

Her expression changed from fear to relief. "Shikamaru you're alive!" She said running over to him.

"You ran so fast I lost track of you," he admitted. "But then I went to the most obvious place someone would go to and here you are. I'm surprised no one else is here."

"I haven't seen anyone."

"I got us some supplies," Shikamaru threw the bag at Ino who caught it. He then walked past her to the lake where he tried to wash the cut on his face. Ino looked inside the bag.

There was a knife, a blanket, canteen, some energy bars and a rope. "Not much food," Ino frowned.

"We're supposed to find our own." Shikamaru noted. "You learned how to make a fire and all those survival skills back in training right?" Ino nodded. "Then fill up the canteen with water quick. We can't stay here any longer."

Ino and Shikamaru soon left. This was lucky for them as two elites, Tenten and Rock Lee, found the lake not long after. They quickly filled the canteens they had with them and headed back to the others.

Half an hour later they reached the cornucopia where the rest of the elites had set up camp. Kankuro was on guard duty, Temari was equipping herself with weapons and Neji was opening another package sent by a sponsor. He stopped when he saw them approaching.

"We found water Neji." Rock Lee reported.

"There's a lake not too far from here. The water is clean and there wasn't anybody else around." Tenten added.

"That's good," Their leader nodded. "It's unfortunate our water source is not closer to the cornucopia but we'll have to make due. We'll have to keep camp here for now; there's no way we could drag all our stuff over there."

Kankuro walked over to them. "Alright, let's get going."

"What's going on?" Tenten asked.

"Not yet," Neji told Kankuro. "We have to wait till nightfall. Then we'll head out and search for some weaklings. The weakest ones usually stay close so we won't have much trouble picking them off. It's only the first night so we shouldn't have to worry about someone coming after us."

"Good plan," Temari said filling a quiver with arrows.

"Yes, but there's one thing." He turned to Rock Lee. "We'll need someone to stay and guard. Rock Lee and Tenten that will be your job."

"What?" Tenten objected. "I don't want to stay here!"

Before she could even blink Neji pulled a long knife out of a sheath and pointed it at her neck. "This is not a democracy! You do not get a vote! You will do what I say. Understood?"

Tenten's wide opened eyes gazed at the knife at her neck before nodding slowly. "Its fine," Rock Lee spoke up. "We'll do it Neji; you can put the knife away."

Neji's glare did not leave his eyes but he did lower the knife. No one spoke for a while. Instead they spent their time preparing. They ate some of the food that had been sent in by the sponsors before heading out.

"We're leaving," Neji told Tenten and Rock Lee. He had two knives strapped to his waist and a sword sheathed across his back. Temari carried a bow and wore a quiver of arrows on her back. She also had a few other things hidden on her person. Kankuro carried a large mace with spikes.

"We should be back in a few hours. Guard our camp until then. If it takes longer than that don't leave; just continue waiting. There's enough food so you don't have to worry about starving."

"Yes sir," Rock Lee saluted. He was wearing a protective green vest. Tenten nodded her consent. She was carrying a spear as she guarded the camp. Neji, Temari, and Kankuro left and headed into the forest.

* * *

Shino looked around quietly for the right tree. He soon found one that was the right size with plenty of branches. Climbing it he sat down on a nice sized branch and tied himself down with some rope. He was confident that anyone wandering around below would not spot him from his hiding space.

Sticking a hand into his pockets he pulled out some berries he had found on a bush an hour ago. He knew what kind they were and that they were safe so he didn't hesitate but quickly ate them. It wasn't much but it would have to do for the night. He was rather thirsty but hadn't managed to find any water. There was a lake but he thought that was too obvious so he looked for a stream but hadn't found anything.

Shino was planning on getting some sleep when something caught his attention. Not far from the tree he was in someone had made a campfire. He could see the bright light from his tree easily. _What are they doing?_ Shino thought to himself. _Don't they know how dangerous that is? They'll be caught for sure!_

Shino wondered if he should move to another tree away from the fire but before he could decide the sound of a trumpet filled the arena. He knew what that meant; it was the time of night they showed who died that day.

He was right as a minute later a projection appeared in the sky for all to see. It was the face of one of the four tributes that had died that day. The first face shown was the girl Tayuya from district six. Next was the girl Matsuri from district nine then the girl Sasame from ten. Last was the boy Chouji from district eleven.

After all four faces were shown the projection ended and they faded from the sky. Now all he could see were stars and clouds. The fire nearby was still going and the person who started it hadn't had the brains to put it out.

Suddenly Shino heard the sound of a twig being snapped. He heard voices and leaned down to get a glimpse but couldn't see anything from his position. But he had little trouble hearing then when they got closer.

"Found one."

"Ahhh!"

"Took us long enough."

Too curious not to, Shino untied himself and carefully leapt to a closer tree. From there he had a much better view. The person who had made the fire was surprisingly the girl from his own district, Amaru. She looked small sitting there near the fire with the others looming over her.

There were three of them. Neji, Kankuro, and Temari all armed to the teeth. _Not surprising,_ Shino thought. _The elites are always better equipped than everyone else_. Temari had an arrow in her bow pointed at the girl and Kankuro had his mace out.

Shino watched as Neji suddenly pulled the sword off his back and slashed it across Amaru's body. There was a spray of blood and a short cry before her body lay silent on the ground.

"Aww I wanted to kill that one." Kankuro complained.

"Quite complaining. You already killed that girl at the start." Temari reminded him.

"Kankuro check her for supplies or weapons." Neji ordered.

"I doubt you'll find anything on her." Temari said.

As they did that Shino contemplated fleeing but didn't think they'd be able to see him from there. It was then he noticed something particular. The tree nearest the fire had a wasp hive on one of its branches.

Shino bore no affection for elites and knew sooner or later he'd have to kill someone to win. Unlike most other tributes he had a vast knowledge of insects and knew exactly what kind of wasps had made that nest, and what would happen if you angered them.

He had to be quick; he didn't have much time. Pulling out the bow he had obtained he drew an arrow and pointed it at the hive. Archery had never been his best skill but he at least knew how to shoot. A bead of sweat went down his head. _I can't miss,_ he told himself. _If I miss I'm dead_.

He let go.

The arrow hit the area that supported the hive to the tree and broke it. The hive came crashing down on the unsuspecting three. It burst open on contact with the ground and at least a hundred wasps swarmed out and attacked.

"What the…?"

"Aaahhhh!"

"Run!"

The wasps stung them furiously as they started to run. Neji was at the front sprinting out of the wasps' range. Temari was right behind him but the wasps were giving her more trouble. Kankuro unfortunately had stopped running completely and huddled on the ground hiding his face as he was continually stung.

Neji ran for ten more minutes until he reached the lake. He dived underwater and held his breath until the wasps gave up and left. Coming back up for breath he looked around but didn't see Temari or Kankuro anywhere.

"Shit!"

Dripping wet he got out of the lake. Looking himself over he could tell he'd been stung a few times but nothing too severe. "Should I head back?" He asked himself. "It's probably too dark."

Just then a package from a sponsor came down out of the air. Neji opened it and smirked. "Perfect!" He pulled out a pair of night vision goggles. After putting them over his head he turned them on to find he could see with no trouble.

Heading back the way he came it didn't take him long to find Amaru's dead body with the equally dead fire. Looking around he saw Kankuro still lying on the ground. "Kankuro?"

Neji flipped the body over and cringed. Kankuro had been severely stung and it showed. He leaned down and checked his wrist. No pulse. He was dead. While fleeing from the swarm of wasps Neji thought he had heard a cannon go off but had hoped it was just a coincidence and that someone else had died.

Just then an arrow from out of the trees pierced through his right ear. "Damn it!" With one hand he cradled his bleeding ear and quickly turned around at the same time. Looking up he saw the tribute Shino on a branch holding a bow.

With no hesitation he flung one of the knives from his side at Shino. It broke through his sunglasses and penetrated his right eye. The shock knocked him out of the tree and he hit the ground hard. Crimson blood stained the grass.

A cannon went off.

Neji took the bow and arrows from his corpse. He was surprisingly tired and sank to his knees. He only meant to take a breather but soon found his eyes closing and sleep coming over him.

* * *

Dead: Tayuya, Matsuri, Sasame, Chouji, Kankuro, Shino

**A/N: Reviews are appreciated.**


	5. A fire rages

**A/N: I made a mistake last chapter and forgot to put Amaru in the dead list. Sorry about that, but this chapter she's there so it's been fixed. Thanks for all the reviews guys! They helped. I had some writer's block but I pushed through it. Hope you guys like this chapter!**

The Naruto Games

Chapter 5

The sun rose on the morning of the second day. Neji lay beneath a tree still sound asleep and undisturbed. Elsewhere Temari licked her wounds before falling into her own unconscious state. Back at the cornucopia Tenten and Rock Lee were concerned. Their three teammates had not returned that night. It was morning but neither of them had slept since they were both on guard duty.

Meanwhile hidden in the trees looking on at the two guards were two sets of eyes watching patiently. They saw the sleep deprived looks on their faces and smirked. "This is perfect! With the other three gone these two will be easy pickings."

"I don't know Dosu; what if they come back?" The other one asked.

"We have no idea when they'll be back Kin." He answered. "That's why we have to do it now. If we wait till they come back we'll have to fight off five of them and then we'll be outnumbered. We take these two now by surprise and they'll never see it coming. Next thing they know they'll be dead!"

"Okay, what's the plan?"

"We'll start a fire," Dosu said holding up a lighter. "Kill them, burn their stuff and flee. When their teammates see the fire they'll come running back and then we'll ambush them too."

"Sounds good," Kin nodded. "But do we light their stuff on fire before or after we kill them?"

"After dumbass. We have to take some of their supplies when they're dead and we don't want them to hurry back before their teammates are dead."

Once Kin agreed the two sharpened their weapons before attacking.

Meanwhile Rock Lee was feeling rather drowsy. He was doing a bad job of keeping watch and he knew it. The problem was one of them had to keep watch and he and Tenten hadn't decided who got to sleep and who had to stay up.

Stretching his arms above his head he let out a yawn. Smacking his lips together he mumbled something to himself and hoped Tenten was too busy on watch to notice he wasn't paying attention. This would turn out to be a dangerous mistake.

Suddenly two figures leapt out of the trees and attacked. Before Rock Lee could even react Dosu pulled out a crossbow and shot an arrow straight into his chest followed by a second arrow. The force alone knocked the breath out of the boy and he crumbled to the ground.

Suddenly a spear slashed at Dosu's head. He barely managed to duck in time. Tenten had taken a swing at him and was pulling back for another one. Anger filled her face after seeing her comrade shot down so mercilessly.

"Kin!" He called out. "Stab her already!"

The dark haired girl was wielding two long knives to stab at Tenten. She nearly gutted the poor girl but she leapt away at the last moment. Kin didn't stop but continued to try to stab her. Tenten was on the defensive but soon started to block the attacks with her spear.

Dosu watched this for a minute. He knew Kin wasn't as strong as he was but had confidence she could get the job done. "She's got this." He said to himself. Then he turned toward the pile of supplies the elites had gathered and started to pilfer through them.

After loading his pockets with a few weapons he started searching for food and supplies. But as he did this, and Kin and Tenten fought, something else happened neither of the three were aware of. Someone was watching them.

Two people actually. Sakura lay crouched on the ground hoping to find a chance to steal some supplies. Now was her chance, but she was too frightened to move. She kept telling herself to run out there and grab something but her legs weren't responding to her mental commands.

Just then someone else did what she had wanted to do. Completely silent Haku leapt off of the branch of a tall tree and landed near the supplies. Unseen by the others he immediately grabbed a bag filled with food and sprinted back into the trees unseen by all except for Sakura.

_That's what I need to do!_ Sakura told herself. _If he can do it why can't I?_

After Dosu secured the necessary provisions he pulled out a lighter. Unscrewing the lid off a tank of gasoline he spilled it out over the remaining supplies. Sakura's eyes grew wide as she realized what the teen was about to do. Rushing forward she crossed the field to the supplies in a few leaps and gripped the handle of a backpack covered in gasoline.

Dosu turned around surprised to see Sakura. "What the…?" He didn't think but shot his crossbow at her.

"Ah!" She cried out in pain as the arrow pierced her arm near the elbow. Still holding the bag with her other arm she tried to run off. Dosu reloaded his crossbow and aimed it at her back. He would've hit her for sure if he hadn't been knocked onto the ground suddenly.

Standing above him was Rock Lee. The vest he had been wearing had worked as a sort of arrow-proof shield. Neither of the arrows had penetrated his skin though he was bruised. Thanks to this distraction Sakura managed to flee back into the woods.

Having much more experience using his fists than any weapon Rock Lee started to punch Dosu in the face. The hits were quite hard but not enough as Dosu kicked out with his left foot and connected with Lee's chest. It knocked the teen on the ground again.

Not even waiting to stand back up Dosu pulled out a lighter and threw it on the nearby gasoline. A fire quickly shot up and grew. The flames were hot and Dosu could feel them from where he was laying. Quickly getting to his feet he looked around for his crossbow which had been knocked out of his hands when he fell.

He spotted it ten feet away to his right but at the same time noticed Kin fighting Tenten. He had underestimated the elite who had dominated the fight and except for a few scratches was unhurt. Kin only had one of her knives left and a bleeding wound on her shoulder. She was clearly losing.

"Kin run!" He shouted at her. The dark haired girl heard him and nodded. She threw her remaining knife at Tenten and then fled into the forest. Tenten dodged the knife and after taking a moment to recuperate she aimed her spear at the fleeing girl. Throwing it hard it flew far but missed. She turned to go after her.

Meanwhile Dosu had been kicked in the head by Rock Lee. As he hit the ground he realized how much the fire had already spread. He hadn't planned on it growing this big before he even got out of there. The tribute realized he had no more time to waste.

Scooping a handful of dirt he threw it into Rock Lee's eyes. The teen cursed as he rubbed his eyes. Dosu meanwhile lunged forward to grab the crossbow lying untouched on the ground. Loading an arrow into it he pointed it at Tenten. The brunette had just started to give chase to Kin and her backside was completely unguarded. Aiming it right at her he pulled the trigger unleashing an arrow. But something happened he was not prepared for.

After wiping most of the dirt out of his eyes Rock Lee had run over and leapt in front of Dosu. Instead of hitting Tenten the arrow lodged itself in Lee's lower stomach. The sound caught Tenten's attention and she turned around to see her teammate get shot. Dosu also was caught off guard and hesitated. Tenten turned to run back.

"Tenten run!" Rock Lee shouted at her. He pushed himself forward and gripped one hand on each of Dosu's shoulders. "Get out of here! GO!"

"Let go!" As Dosu tried to free himself of Lee's grip he fired another arrow. This one hit him in the upper chest but he did not let go. Instead he pushed the other boy backwards. Dosu could feel the heat from the fire and realized just how close he was to it. "No! Stop!"

Rock Lee gritted his teeth. "No, I won't be the only one who dies today. I won't let you kill my teammate!" He pushed his opponent back further. Dosu could feel the flames licking at his heels.

_I can't die like this!_ Dosu thought to himself. _I'm supposed to win! I should be the last one standing! _He shot his last arrow out but it didn't do him any good. He continued to pull the trigger but there was nothing left to shoot. With the last of his strength Lee pushed Dosu back.

"No!"

Before Dosu hit the ground the flames were already upon him. They covered his body and consumed his flesh. His cries of pain and suffering were horrible as the fire only grew.

Rock Lee fell to the ground bleeding and gasping. He had no strength left and he knew some of his organs had been ruptured. This was it. "Win Tenten," he said with his last breath. "Win."

The fire overtook him. Two cannons went off.

Elsewhere Kin ran into the forest and away from Tenten who was giving chase. Running past tree after tree she gave no thought to her destination just putting as much distance away as she could. She wasn't sure what had happened to Dosu. Whether he was alive or not. All she did was run. But suddenly she tripped on a tree root and fell down.

"Shit!" She cursed as her leg started to hurt. She could tell it was sprained but got to her feet anyway and started to run again. Pain filled her shoulder and her leg but she kept going. Kin didn't hear Tenten behind her anymore but didn't stop. She was tired and needed to stop as her vision seemed hazy. Because of this she didn't see the trap as she stepped in it.

A rope wrapped around her ankle and pulled her straight up into the air. "Ahhh!" She cried out as she dangled upside down. The ground was in front of her as her arms were up beside her head. "What is this? Oh no…"

"Wow it worked!" A voice called out. "I actually caught someone."

Kin couldn't see where the voice was coming from but she was frantic to escape. Trying to heave her upper body up she reached for the rope with her hands. Her fingers just barely touching it…

Slice!

"Aaahhhhh!"

A knife had slashed at the fingers that were so desperately trying to free themselves. A splash of blood and Kin gazed at her left hand to find she was missing three and a half fingers.

The perpetrator was right in front of her. Dressed in a jacket with the hood up Kiba carried a bloody knife. A smile exposed his rather sharp canines. A primal lust was etched on his face as he roughly grabbed Kin's bloody hands and pushed them back behind her head.

"Hold still!" He said grabbing her head and pushing it back. Before the girl even had time to scream he sliced open her neck and a deluge of blood poured out. He let go of her head and pulled away as the blood splattered onto his feet. A cannon went off.

"Now for the next one…"

* * *

Naruto was nowhere near the fire but he still heard the two cannons go off. And then a few minutes later heard the third cannon. The sound of the cannons made him nervous; as if death was coming closer. It had been a little while since then but he was still nervous.

He had gotten to the end of the forest where the trees ended and there was a field of long grass. The blonde wasn't sure if he should go in or not. He was pretty hungry since all he'd eaten was the energy bar he had found in his pack. The forest seemed like an easier place to find food so he hadn't left it yet.

Walking between the trees he didn't notice an unusual pile of leaves on the ground. As he walked through it his foot got caught in another trap. This trap was set by Kiba; though Naruto was not aware of that. He was flung into the air and hung upside down.

"Oh crap! This is bad!" He said twisting back and forth trying to get free. "Someone get me down from here! Where's Sakura when you need her?"

Just then from behind a tree someone appeared. It was the shy, dark haired girl Hinata. She gazed at Naruto for a moment before slowly walking forward. It didn't take long for the blonde to spot her. "Whoa…it's you!" He said. "What are you doing? Did you make this?"

Hinata walked over to Naruto's bag and pulled out the small knife he had. "Whoa wait! Don't kill me!" He rocked back and forth trying to get loose again but to no avail. "Shit, I got to get out of here!" He reached for the rope but couldn't get his fingers around it.

Hinata meanwhile walked over to the tree that the trap was set up around. The rope was tied to the tree so Hinata cut the rope with the knife. The trap instantly fell apart and Naruto came crashing down onto the ground.

"A-Are you okay?" Hinata asked in little more than a whisper.

"Oww…" He rubbed his head. "Yeah I'm okay. You saved me." He looked at her. "Why did you save me?"

"It-It wasn't my trap!" She said as if it counted as an explanation.

"Well thanks…I guess." He stood up. "Can I have my knife back?"

"Sure," Hinata said passing the knife to his open hand.

"You don't seem like you want to kill me." He stated. "So do you want to be allies?"

"Really?" Hinata asked surprised. Naruto nodded. "O-Okay!"

"That's good; I wasn't doing too great on my own." He admitted. "I was supposed to team up with Sakura but I haven't seen her. Have you?" Hinata shook her head. "I hope she wasn't one of the tributes who died last night or earlier today."

Just then Naruto's stomach growled. "Oh man, I'm hungry. You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat would you?"

"Just some berries," She said pulling the fruit out of her pockets. They were red and looked safe to eat. "I don't have much on me but I can take you back to where I found them."

"Thanks," Naruto said taking a handful and stuffing them into his mouth. "These are great," he said while chewing. Hinata smiled. "Okay, let's go find the bush you found them in. I think we'll do a lot better if we have a source of food."

Hinata quietly lead Naruto through the forest. It took them over an hour but they made their way back to where Hinata found the berries. There were a few bushes full of them and they decided to eat their fill. Just as they were finishing they heard a voice call out.

"Sasuke! Where are you?"

"Get down!" Naruto said pushing himself and Hinata onto the ground next to the bush. Naruto could hear someone walking very close by. They were calling out for the tribute named Sasuke. It was loud enough anyone nearby could hear but she wasn't yelling so the whole forest didn't know.

When he thought she had walked past Naruto stuck his head out and looked. It was the redheaded tribute girl Karin. She seemed to be alive and well but for some reason she was searching for Sasuke. Naruto had no idea why. Once she was gone the two got back up and decided they needed to find someplace safe to hide.

* * *

It wasn't until later that night that Neji finally woke up. His body was sore and the stings still hurt. Realizing what time it was he was shocked. _How could I have slept so long? _He thought to himself. Then he realized he was hungry. He needed to get back to the cornucopia.

Neji immediately ran off toward his base. He had no idea what had happened to the others. Had Temari returned to base and were they still waiting for him? Did they think he was dead? The prodigy didn't know and it drove him faster and faster.

Reaching the edge of the trees he looked out in horror. "No…" There was no one there. The cornucopia had been abandoned. Their pile of food, weapons and supplies and been burnt and so had the surrounding area.

Running out he searched for found nothing. It was all worthless; none of it could be salvaged. "God dammit!" He cried out kicking the nearby pile of junk. "Where the fuck did you all go?"

Just then he heard the familiar sound that meant the deaths were going to be announced. Looking up in the sky he saw the faces of the dead as they appeared. The first was Rock Lee, then Dosu, Kin, Kankuro, Shino and finally Amaru.

"So Rock Lee is dead." He said to himself. "But that means Temari and Tenten still live. Where are they? And what happened?"

But no one was around to answer his questions. The viewers from all twelve districts watching this knew exactly what had happened. But Neji didn't. He was alone. But not far from where he stood was someone else.

Sakura had made her way to the forest but had not gotten much farther. She lay unconscious on the grass hidden near a bush still bleeding from her arm.

* * *

**Dead: Tayuya, Matsuri, Sasame, Chouji, Ayame, Kankuro, Shino, Dosu, Rock Lee, Kin**

**A/N: Reviews are appreciated **


	6. A sinking feeling

**A/N: Thanks for the good reviews guys. They really help!**

The Naruto Games

Chapter 6

The third day was upon the tributes and the sky above them filled with clouds. Early in the morning a girl weak from hunger walked through the forest lost. Her name was Shion and she was not suited to survival. The best that could be said of her was that she had not been killed in the beginning at the cornucopia.

She had not eaten in days and had very little water. As she walked along muttering to herself she thought she heard someone. Stopping to listen she waited. There it was! She heard the sound again, only louder. It was someone's voice and they were calling out for help!

_Maybe they have food!_ Shion thought to herself. Starting to run she headed toward the sound of the voice. If this person was calling out for help they were probably injured so she wasn't as worried as she should be. Past tree after tree she continued to hear the voice and it was getting closer. She knew that she must be close now.

Just then as she walked over what appeared to be a pile of leaves she didn't feel anything beneath her feet. She wasn't standing on anything; the ground had left. Gravity took over and Shion started to fall.

"Ahhh!" She cried out as she fell into the dark hole. The cry was soon cut off as she reached the bottom. Poor Shion had fallen into a trap. A hole someone had dug filled at the bottom with spikes shooting out. The blonde had been stabbed through on multiple points on her body the most prominent right through her mouth.

Someone moved closer to look down. Standing over the pit was the tribute Gaara holding a shovel. A cannon went off somewhere in the distance. "That was too easy," he said to himself. "Now to prepare the next one…"

* * *

"I think we should go out and look for Sakura." Naruto announced that afternoon. "Her face hasn't shown up in the sky yet so she should still be alive but I've got a bad feeling. The fact that we haven't run into each other means something probably went wrong."

"Okay," Hinata nodded. "But what…" she hesitated. "What if she just doesn't want to team up with you? She might attack us."

Naruto frowned. "Maybe…but I don't think so. If she does then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!" he said giving Hinata a dumb smile. "Also we need to find more food. These berries won't last; we'll need to find some real food."

"Okay, where should we start?" The shy girl asked.

"We should stick to the safe parts of the forest." He decided. "Then if we don't find anything we can head back here before night so we won't risk sleeping out in the open. Tomorrow we could try somewhere else if we need to."

They left their hiding place a few minutes later. Hinata followed closely behind Naruto as they walked through the forest cautiously. She had always had good vision and used it to try to spot anything coming their way. They had been lucky so far but surely they could not avoid their enemies forever.

While Naruto was doing his best to keep his mouth shut he was having a hard time keeping his feet quiet. He seemed to step on nearly every twig and branch they came across. This only made Hinata more wary of how they could be attacked at any moment.

"See anything Hinata?" Naruto asked without looking back.

"Not really…" She shook her head uselessly.

Suddenly Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. Because Hinata had been looking behind them she ran right into his back and fell down. The blonde was focused on something else and didn't seem to have noticed. "Wait! I hear something."

Hinata listened and heard it too. It sounded like someone was crying out for help.

"Someone's in trouble." Naruto said. "Maybe it's Sakura!" He then took off running in the direction the cry came from.

"Naruto wait!" Hinata called after him as she got to her feet. "I think that was a boy's voice!" But he didn't hear her as he had already run ahead. She quickly ran after him hoping to catch up before someone else did.

The voice was coming from outside the forest and into the thick grass. Naruto saw this but didn't stop. He ran through the grass and as he did went temporarily out of sight. When Hinata couldn't see him anymore fear suddenly gripped her heart. She started sprinting toward the last place she had seen him.

"Hinata stop!" Naruto cried out. "Don't come over here!"

But Naruto's warning was too late as Hinata was running much too fast to come to a complete stop right away. The thick grass suddenly came to an end and Hinata found herself standing on sand. In front of her was what appeared to be a sandy desert that went on for at least a mile.

But she gave this little thought as she glanced Naruto standing not twenty feet in front of her. She kept running right toward him and failed to heed his warning.

"Shit! Now we're both trapped!" Naruto lamented.

Hinata glanced down at her feet to see they were slightly sunk into the sand. But the sand felt different than normal sand and when Hinata tried to pick her feet up she realized they were stuck. Her feet were slowly sinking further and further into the sand.

"Quicksand?" She asked in horror. Naruto nodded.

"We got to get out of here!" The blonde freaked. He tried as hard as he could to move toward the edge.

"Don't move!" Hinata warned him. "You'll only sink faster!"

"If I could just get to the edge I could grab something and pull us out!" He said straining to move. Hinata's advice had been right and he was already sunk up to his knees. The shy girl looked around trying to come up with some method of escape but didn't see any way out.

Just then a boy walked into view. He had blood red hair and dark shadows under his eyes. In his hands he carried a shovel. Hinata thought he looked pleased when he saw them caught in the trap.

Naruto spotted the boy. "Help! You gotta help us out of here!"

The redhead blinked. "No, I don't think so. For you see, that's my trap your stuck in."

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled uselessly at him. His hands were clenched into fists and he waved them around angrily.

Suddenly Gaara winced in pain and clutched the left side of his face with his hand. "Arggh! Hold on mother, you'll get to see them die. Yes, then I'll feed you…"

Naruto gaped at this strange behavior before turning to Hinata. "This guy…he's not normal."

Hinata ignored this comment to focus more on their present situation. "Naruto can you reach the edge?"

He shook his head. "I can't! I'm up to my waist now so I can't even move my legs!" Hinata noticed the intense look of fear on his face as he said this.

"Die! Just die already!" Gaara shouted at them. "Mother is getting impatient…"

Just then as Gaara was yelling at Hinata and Naruto he was suddenly hit from behind and knocked onto the ground. Flipping over he saw the tribute Sasuke standing over him carrying a sword.

"Hold still and this won't hurt." He said bringing the sword up above his head. He brought it down intending to slash through Gaara but the teen had rolled over and avoided the blow.

Sasuke quickly slashed at him again and Gaara barely had time to bring the shovel he was holding up to defend him. "You die too!" The redhead shouted at the newcomer. "You'll all die to feed mother!"

"I don't think so!" Sasuke pulled his sword back and sent a kick right at Gaara. Once again he tried to use the shovel to shield him but Sasuke's kick knocked the shovel into the air. As it fell back to the ground it landed right near the quicksand. The top half in, the lower half out.

Gaara tried to reach for something at his side but he wasn't quick enough. Sasuke thrust his sword straight into Gaara's belly. The sharp blade punctured the skin and the sword sank inch by inch through his middle until it came out of his back.

Gaara gasped in pain and surprise and gazed down at the sword protruding from his stomach. Sasuke's hands still gripped the end of the handle and for a moment he paused just like Gaara. His composure momentarily lost at what he had done.

But a few seconds later he regained himself and quickly pulled the sword out of Gaara's body. There was surprisingly little blood for such a horrible wound. As soon as the sword came out Gaara's body didn't have the strength left to withstand gravity and he fell onto the sand.

"No…mother…must…can't…"

A cannon went off in the distance.

Sasuke quickly looked away from Gaara's corpse. Instead he saw Naruto and Hinata being swallowed up by the quicksand. He said nothing; knowing they would soon be dead without his help. He sheathed his sword before running off toward the thick grass.

Naruto's fingers grasped the edge of the shovel that had once belonged to Gaara. "I got it Hinata!" He told the shy girl. The quicksand was already up to his stomach and he did not have much longer. Pulling the shovel up above his head he turned it over so he was holding the handle.

"I hope this works…" Using what strength he had Naruto slammed the metal part down into the sand outside the quicksand. By luck or fate the metal dug into the sand and Naruto was able to push it down further. Making sure it was secure he used it to pull himself up and out of the quicksand.

"I did it…" He said breathing heavily.

"Naruto help!"

He stood up; his legs were still wobbly. "I'm coming Hinata." Standing right on the edge he bent down to his knees and extended his arms as far as he could so Hinata could reach the handle part of the shovel.

Hinata reached out with her fingers and tried to grab the shovel but her fingers grasped only air. "I can't reach!" She despaired. "My arms aren't long enough!"

"You have to try harder!" Naruto told her.

"I can't…"

"You have to try!" He yelled at her. "Please Hinata; I can't do this without you! Please try!"

Nodding the shy girl used all her strength to push herself forward despite sinking even quicker. This time her fingers grasped the handle and she curled them around the metal. "I got it!"

"Hold on! I'll pull you in!" Digging his feet into the sand Naruto used all his strength to pull Hinata out. It took a full minute of strenuous pulling but he managed to get her out.

Both were wet and tired as they tried to catch their breath on the sand. "Hinata… we got to go." Naruto said. "That Sasuke guy thinks the quicksand killed us but if he doesn't hear the cannon go off he might come back."

"Alright," Hinata said pulling herself to her feet.

"Can you make it?"

"I'll be fine." She reassured him. They both made their way as quickly as they could to the high grass. Once they got there they fell to their knees and crawled on their stomachs knowing anyone looking over the grass wouldn't be able to see them.

Eventually they made their way back to the forest where they managed to climb a tree. Both mentally and physically exhausted they fell asleep hungry hoping desperately that they wouldn't be spotted.

* * *

It was the next day. Shikamaru sat alone in a cave he and Ino and recently found. She had gone out looking for food while he stayed behind. He was currently trying to sharpen a piece of wood he had found with his knife to make a stake. The lazy teen had told Ino to be extremely careful and to run rather than fight but he had not expected her back so soon.

So when Ino came running into the cave Shikamaru suspected something had gone wrong. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she waved away his concern. "It's not me. When I was out looking for food I saw someone. It was the girl tribute from district two. She seemed hurt but not dying. What should we do?"

"We could go kill her if that's what you want." He said with a straight face.

"What? No, I mean what if we make her an ally?"

"Not a whole lot of people want to have allies in the games you know." He answered her. "Plus if she's injured she won't be of any use to us."

"Don't be so heartless!" Ino said looking offended.

"Fine, we'll go take a look but that's all. If I say it's too dangerous then we leave got it?" Ino nodded. Shikamaru stood up and pocketed the wooden stake he had made before leaving the cave with the blonde.

Once they were out of the cave Ino took the lead. Trying her best to remember exactly where she had found the girl she led Shikamaru the best she could. Since she hadn't gone too far it only took about five minutes to get there.

"She's right through this clearing." Ino exclaimed before running into the clearing.

"Ino wait!" But Shikamaru's cry was too late as she was already going. Grumbling to himself he ran after her. But he did not have to go far as she had come to a complete stop. Once he made his way over to her he saw exactly why.

The girl that Ino had spotted earlier was Tenten. At the time she had been injured but still alive. This was no longer the case as three separate arrows had pierced the brunette in the back. She was lying on her stomach with her face to the ground as another girl stood over her.

As Shikamaru took all this in a cannon went off in the distance.

"Oh hello there." Temari said as she caught sight of the two. She smirked at the sight of what she believed to be easy prey. Shikamaru however didn't think she seemed to be doing well herself. Her skin still had angry red marks from when she was stung, her clothes were ripped in places and she could only see from one eye.

"But…she was one of you!" Ino said surprised at this sudden turn of events.

"That alliance is dead." Temari answered. "Had she been in good condition I may have offered to team up with her but she was weak so she was nothing but prey." The dirty blonde pulled her bow back up and reached for an arrow. "But now I've found new prey…"

Shikamaru whipped his head back to face Ino. "Ino run!" he yelled as he turned around and grabbed the girl by the arm. She soon caught on and starting run as fast as she could.

"Go ahead and run!" Temari said pointing the arrow at one of the two teens. "But you won't get far…"

* * *

**A/N: I think I could've portrayed Gaara better. Sorry about that. Reviews are appreciated! **

**Dead: Tayuya, Matsuri, Sasame, Chouji, Amaru, Kankuro, Shino, Dosu, Rock Lee, Kin, Shion, Gaara, Tenten**

**Alive: Neji, Hinata, Temari, Kiba, Sasuke, Karin, Shikamaru, Ino, Haku, Naruto, Sakura**


	7. Reunited

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Some of you seem disappointed that people are dying but remember guys it's the hunger games! Anyway here's the next chapter.**

The Naruto Games

Chapter 7

When Naruto and Hinata woke up from a long rest they were both hungry and sore. They were also covered in a layer of muck and filth after nearly drowning in quicksand. So they slowly made their way over to the lake which was full of clean, drinkable water.

"Is it safe?" Hinata asked as they approached the lake.

"I don't see anyone around, but they could be waiting to ambush us." He groaned.

"So what should we do?"

"I'm going in anyway," he told her. "You wait till I give you the sign. Once I've looked around and nobody tries to kill me I'll let you know it's safe."

"Be careful!" Hinata whispers as he runs out into the open.

Naruto stumbled to the lake's edge and looked around. He didn't spot anyone hiding among the trees and no one came out. After waiting a minute just to be sure he bent down on his knees and scooped a handful of water into his hands and drank from it. The water was cool and refreshing.

He wanted more but wanted Hinata to have some too. Standing back up he looked around one more time to be safe and then gave Hinata the hand signal the two had agreed on earlier. A few seconds passed before she came running toward him.

"It's safe," he told her. "I think if anyone was waiting to ambush someone they'd have attacked me by now." He bent back down to get another drink and Hinata did the same. After he had his fill he splashed the water on his face. Remembering how dirty he was he walked out into the water far enough that it was up to his neck.

"Cold! Cold! Cold!" he repeated as he tried to wash the muck off himself despite the freezing cold water. Hinata was right behind him doing the same but managed to keep quiet except for the occasional whimper she couldn't manage to suppress.

Because of the cold they didn't last more than a few minutes. They sat on the grass beside the lake as they tried to warm themselves up. Just then Hinata nudged Naruto. "N-Naruto look," she said stuttering. "I think I see someone on the other side of the lake!"

The blonde looked over to where she was pointing and could see what looked like a body lying on the ground beside the lake. They hadn't noticed it earlier because it was on the exact opposite side of the lake. The sight interested Naruto, but not in a good way.

"It's probably a dead body." He said. "Someone probably killed that guy and the body's been left there."

"Are you sure?" Hinata stood up to get a better look. "Maybe we should go take a look."

"Well it can't hurt," he conceded. Hinata took the lead and they slowly walked around the lake toward the body. As they got closer they could see the body better and the sight shocked Naruto. He suddenly ran past Hinata toward the body.

"Sakura!" He called out. At this range he could easily distinguish her pink hair that she always kept neat now dirtied. She was lying on her stomach with her face down in the grass only inches away from the water. Fear gripped Naruto's stomach at the sight of the blood covering one of her arms. The rest of her however seemed intact.

Reaching her he held his hands out to do something but hesitated to touch her. As those few seconds passed Hinata reached him. "Be careful Naruto." The blonde nodded as he slowly turned her over. She stirred but did not awake. Hinata took the arm that was unhurt and checked for a pulse. "She's alive."

Naruto smiled. "That's great! But she's definitely hurt. We should bandage her arm."

"It might be infected. We should clean it first." The Hyuga suggested. The two carefully edged her over closer to the water and Hinata dipped the wounded arm in the water to clean it. When she finished they pulled her back onto the grass.

"I'll take care of the bandage." Naruto said before ripping the lower portion of his left pants leg off. Carefully he wrapped it around Sakura's wound and tied it. The blonde looked down at his no longer matching pants and wondered if he should just rip the other one off to.

Just then Sakura started to stir. She moaned slightly and Hinata and Naruto both hovered above her in wait. Slowly she opened her eyes a few times before she finally realized she was looking at two people staring at her. Suddenly her eyes were all the way open and she cried out. "Ah!"

The sudden shout surprised the two teens and pushed jumped back. Sakura suddenly tried to pull herself up to her feet. "Wait! Stop!" Hinata told her grabbing her should and trying to push her back down. "You're injured!"

"Get away from me!" Sakura tried to push the dark haired girl back with her uninjured arm.

"Sakura it's okay!" Naruto said trying to draw her attention. "It's me! See?" The pinkette stopped for a moment when she noticed the blonde.

"Naruto?" She paused. "What's going on?"

"That's what I was going to ask you!" he cracked a smile. "We just found you lying here near the lake."

"Were you attacked?" Hinata asked.

Sakura gazed at Hinata warily. "Why are you here?"

"We teamed up," Naruto explained. "I couldn't find you so Hinata and I have been working together. What happened anyway?"

Sakura rubbed her head. "I need a drink first…" She hobbled over to the water's edge and gulped down handfuls of ice cold water. As soon as she got a brain freeze she stopped drinking. "I'm sorry to ask but do either of you two have any food?"

"We have a few berries left but that's all." Hinata said offering the hungry girl the berries. She quickly consumed them all.

"Now we'll need to find some more food." Naruto said observing his own hunger.

"Sorry about that." Sakura lowered her head. "But now I'll tell you what happened." The other two listened in eagerly. "Once the hunger games started I didn't go too far from the cornucopia. I stayed close by and searched for you Naruto but I had no idea where you went."

"I ran in the beginning so I didn't have any weapons or supplies. I spent a cold night sleeping on the ground hungry. The next morning I spied on the elites and hoped to get the chance to steal some food. I got lucky as two tributes attacked that morning and distracted the two guarding everything.

Unfortunately when I ran up to grab the supplies I was spotted by one of the attackers. He shot me in the arm and I barely managed to escape." She explained. "I didn't get far before falling unconscious. When I woke up I wandered further into the forest and found this lake. I managed to drink a few sips before I fell unconscious again."

"And that's where we found you." Naruto said finishing the story. Sakura nodded.

"What happened to the supplies you stole?" Hinata asked.

Realization hit Sakura. "Oh…I forgot." She looked around as if expecting to see the supplies lying beside her. "I think I dropped them a little ways before I found the lake. They can't be too far."

"Then let's go look for them." Naruto suggested standing up. "Do you think you can walk?"

"I'll be fine." Sakura said getting to her feet. "As long as I don't have to use this arm anytime soon." She held her injured arm carefully with the other.

The three of them headed in the direction Sakura had come from. They went slowly as to make sure they didn't miss a pack lying around. Ten minutes later a negative idea crossed Hinata's mind.

"M-Maybe someone else found it."

"Maybe, but I don't think so." Sakura said looking under a bush. She didn't see it so she moved further back. "Ah ha!" She said a minute later holding up a pack of supplies for the other two to see. It was lying on top of a tree stump.

"You found it!" Naruto cheered.

"Naruto, be quiet!" Sakura shushed him. "Now let's see what's inside." Unzipping the top she stuck a hand inside and rummaged around.

"Is there any food?" The blonde asked feeling hopeful.

"Surprisingly…yes!" Sakura said pulling out a handful of energy bars and dried meat. "There's also a large knife," she pulled it out and waved it near the others, "And a sleeping bag."

"This will come in handy." Hinata said holding the sleeping bag.

"Agreed!" Sakura smiled.

* * *

It was approaching late afternoon as Ino and Shikamaru made their way past the desert part of the arena. They were still fleeing from Temari. She had been tracking them the better part of the day and by now they were tired and hungry.

Just then Ino fell to her knees in defeat. "Shikamaru we got to stop."

"We can't stop." He told her. "We only have a few minutes lead on that girl. If we don't keep going she'll catch us and kill us."

"What if we hid in one of those caves?" She asked pointing to the series of caves to their left that were part of the mountain.

The dark haired boy walked toward one of the caves if only because he needed to keep moving. He stood outside one and tried to look in but it was too dark. Either way he didn't think the cave was very big. Just then he heard something on his right. Turning his head he covered his mouth with his hand to make sure he didn't make a sound.

A rather large wolf was going into the next cave over. Lucky for Shikamaru it hadn't noticed him. He realized it must be one of the dangers the game masters put in to increase the excitement. As quiet as he could he scurried back over to Ino.

"What is it?" She asked upon seeing the look on his face.

"Wolves," he whispered to her. "There's one in that cave."

"Are you serious? Shit! Now we have to keep going." The blonde looked like she couldn't go another step.

"No we don't," Shikamaru said looking thoughtful. "I have an idea. Give me your shoe."

"What?" Ino asked but the boy had already pulled it off of her left foot. "Hey give that back! What are you going to do?"

Shikamaru quietly tip-toed back in front of the cave with the wolf and carefully dropped the shoe in front of the cave entrance. He tried to make it look discreet as if it had just fallen off. Then he hurried back to Ino.

"What was that for?" She asked having stood back up.

"I think we can mislead her into giving in one of those caves." He explained. "But it won't work if we're out here in the open. We have to hide. Now."

Of course if there had been anywhere to hide before they would've just hidden and stayed there. Instead they had to go somewhere else to hide. Carefully but quickly climbing a side of the mountain they hid on top of one of the caves. If Temari ignored the caves and went onward she'd spot them for sure. It was a big gamble.

Barely sixty seconds after they had hidden themselves Temari appeared following their trail. She was rather tired of this game by now. It had gone on far longer than she had hoped and now she just wanted to kill the two of them and get some rest.

Their trail had led her to these caves and she guessed they had gone around them which would take considerable time allowing her to catch up quickly. But as she looked around (to make sure they weren't hiding somewhere in plain sight) she caught sight of something near the caves.

Moving closer she saw it was the girl tribute's shoe. "Well look at this," she said picking up the shoe and holding it up. She smirked at the realization that the two must've tried to hide in one of the caves but the girl had stupidly lost her shoe. "Tragic to come this far yet lose here." She laughed.

Pulling an arrow from her quiver she prepared her bow and stepped into the darkness of the cave.

A few minutes passed. From where Shikamaru was lying on his stomach he could not see anything beside the rock in front of him. He had heard Temari approach but had no way of knowing whether she had gone in the cave or not. For all he knew she was waiting right there waiting for them to pop their heads out and expose themselves.

Deciding to risk it he lifted his head and exposed himself in order to see if she was still there. She wasn't which Shikamaru realized meant she must've fallen for his trap and gone into the cave. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Ino.

"Alright Ino it worked. She went into the cave." He explained. "Now we've got to get down and get out of here quick."

They descended with haste and were soon back on the ground. "You're sure she went in?" Ino asked. Shikamaru nodded. "Then what are you worried about? She's probably being ripped apart as we speak! I'm not sorry either; she deserved it!"

"I'm just being careful." Shikamaru looked around like a paranoid person. "Come on, let's go." He started to head back the way they came when he realized something. "Wait a second, I never heard a cannon go off…"

"Ummm…Shikamaru?" Ino's voice was filled with fear and dread. Shikamaru turned around to see something terrifying.

Temari had dragged herself out of the cave with the wolf inside. She was bleeding extensively from her left arm and a gash on her head. Her clothes were so ripped Shikamaru could clearly see her bra; the front of her blouse that covered it having been ripped off somehow. The quiver on her back only had one arrow left but it might as well have had zero as the bow she carried in her hands was now broken in two. She spit out a tooth.

"Holy shit."

"You're both dead." Temari said glaring at the two. "Dead!"

Shikamaru turned to Ino. "We can take her! She's weak!"

Temari threw the broken bow to the ground and pulled what looked like a thin tube from her pocket. She then took what seemed like a small needle and put it inside. Shikamaru realized what it was but he was too late. Temari blew the dart out of the tube and it shot out and into Ino's neck.

The blonde gasped and immediately pulled the dart out. "Oh no!"

"That's poison," Temari said. "You'll be dead in a few minutes."

"No!" Shikamaru shouted. Gripping the wooden stake in his right hand he lunged straight at the girl. Seeing him coming Temari dropped the tube and whipped out a knife that was attached to her leg.

It was hard to tell who struck first. If someone had blinked they would've missed it entirely. But when Shikamaru blinked he found the wooden stake he made dug into Temari's right shoulder. Looking down he saw the girl's knife had slashed across his stomach. Crimson blood was now leaking out onto his shirt.

Letting go of the stake he took a few steps back and tripped. Falling onto his back he hit the hard ground. Only a foot away Ino also fell to the ground as her legs became paralyzed.

"I win…" Temari said slowly. She then started to walk off; limping the whole way.

"Shikamaru…" Ino whispered. "I can't move my body…and it's getting hard to breathe…"

The male turned his head to see the blonde laying beside him. He was racked with terrible pain from his stomach and was almost certain Temari's blow had been fatal. Even if it hadn't he knew he would bleed to death anyway. "I'm sorry Ino, this is all my fault…"

"No…it's not. You can't take all the credit."

Shikamaru turned his head up toward the sky. He could see the clouds passing by overhead. "I never wanted…any of this." He told her. "I just wanted to be a lazy guy and stare at the clouds. That was enough for me."

He was having a hard time swallowing but kept going. "I just wanted to have a normal boring life. I'd get a job and marry a moderately attractive woman and have two kids; a boy and a girl. Then I'd grow old and die."

"That's so boring it makes me want to fall asleep." Ino told him.

"Don't fall asleep." He warned her.

"Hey Shikamaru?"

"Yeah…?"

"Do you think I could be that moderately attractive woman?" She asked.

"You're too beautiful to be called moderately attractive." He informed her. "But…yeah. I'd like that."

He reached over with the last of his strength and took her hand with his. He closed his hand around hers and squeezed it gently. She couldn't feel it.

A minute later two cannons went off.

* * *

But poor, injured Temari didn't get far. She had limped away on sheer determination alone but now that she heard the cannons go off she was starting to feel pretty light headed. Seeing double was a bad sign so she couldn't help but try to lie down.

She didn't really manage to lie down. It was more like she fell down on her face and immediately fell unconscious. Which as it turned out was really bad luck for her. As a mere five minutes later the redhead Karin happened to come across her unconscious body.

"Whoa," she said taken back as she turned the girl over. "Is this chick still alive? Well…not for long." She took the last remaining arrow out of the quiver on Temari's back and stabbed it into her neck. As Karin let go of the arrow a cannon went off. Seeing that her work was done the redhead pocketed the knife she found on the body and continued her search.

"Oh Sasuke…"

"Where are you…?"

* * *

**A/N: 8 tributes are left. By the end of the next chapter that number will be cut in half. Reviews are appreciated!**

**Alive: Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke, Kiba, Neji, Haku, Karin**

**Dead: Tayuya, Matsuri, Sasame, Chouji, Amaru, Kankuro, Shino, Dosu, Rock Lee, Kin, Shion, Gaara, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, Temari**


	8. Revenge

The Naruto Games

Chapter 8

As a small fire burned quietly Sasuke Uchiha sat next to it. In his hands he held the remains of a rabbit he had found and cooked. He was now ripping off the meat and eating it as quickly as he could. He knew the smoke could bring some of the other tributes but with only eight of them left he was not worried. For him there was little chance any teams remained and he did not fear a one on one encounter.

Sasuke had done his best not to draw attention to himself in the beginning. He had no desire to piss an entire group of people off and have them chase after him. No, he wanted to be careful. Only once did he find himself in a situation where he deemed it safe enough to kill another tribute.

But now that there were only eight of them left he knew it was time to get into the game. It was no longer safe to hide in the back waiting for the others to kill each other off. In other hunger games the people who never tried always got caught up in a fire or were attacked by some wild animals the game masters sent to draw them out. No, it was fight or die now.

That's why Sasuke had made this fire. He knew there was someone nearby but wasn't sure who. The fact that he wasn't sure proved that whoever it was was sneaky enough not to be caught. That alone narrowed down the list and the tribute from the seventh district thought it was most likely Haku. He hoped the fire might draw him out into attacking.

Finishing eating Sasuke wiped his fingers on his pants. Walking over to his bag he pulled out his canteen full of fresh water. He took a few gulps then put the cap back on. Turning around to put out the fire he thought he saw a brief glimpse of someone's shadow. Sasuke immediately leapt backwards. Just in time as an arrow landed right where he had been standing a second later.

_Arrows?_ Sasuke thought to himself. _Haku didn't have any skill in shooting arrows…_ "Come on out!" He yelled before doing a front flip over to his left. When he stood up he now had his sword in his hands.

Whoever was shooting at him however ignored his order and shot another few arrows at him. As Sasuke dodged them he tried to figure out which direction they were coming from. After another arrow nearly grazed him he figured it out and rushed forward a few feet before hiding behind another tree.

He heard the thud announcing his attacker had shot an arrow into this tree too. There were only two more trees between him and his attacker. Taking a deep breath Sasuke rushed out again and lunged for the tree barely avoiding an arrow. He made it but just as he was catching his breath he heard something hit the ground.

He was about to rush out again when suddenly his attacker lunged out of the shadows at him. "Neji?" Sasuke said surprised. And indeed it was not Haku but Neji who was attacking him. He had run out of arrows so he pulled out his sword and attacked.

Quickly recovering Sasuke brought his own sword up and blocked just in time. Neji's sword clanged against his own and pushed him back slightly. There was no hesitation as he raised the sword and attacked again. Sasuke kept blocking and parrying his attacks but was having a hard time fighting back as Neji was such a skilled swordsman.

Suddenly Neji put a lot more force into his next blow and knocked Sasuke to the ground. The seventh district tribute managed to keep his sword in his right hand and with his left he threw a handful of dirt into Neji's eyes. The elite was temporarily blinded and started to back away.

But Sasuke took his chance. He pulled himself to his feet and started swinging away on the offensive. Despite his frenzied attack Neji managed to block his attacks with only one hand and after a minute managed to regain his sight. Soon they were fighting neck and neck exchanging blow after deadly blow.

Both were growing tired from the long fight and Neji's forehead dripped with sweat. He needed to end this before he lost any more strength. Suddenly he thrust his elbow into Sasuke's face and hit him on the chin. With a pained grunt his head was pushed back.

Pulling back his sword he swung it hard hoping to slash Sasuke's chest but was disappointed as his opponent raised his weapon in time. Sasuke's sword went flying out his hands and landed a good few feet away in the dirt. The hand that had been holding it was now bleeding slightly. Sasuke was still trying to recover from the blow.

Neji raised his sword high above his head. "Die!" He said right before he brought it down. But he didn't manage to bring it down because right before he did a horrible blinding pain filled his body.

"Ahhh!" The elite cried out as the knife stabbed him in the back. He dropped his sword onto the ground as he felt his strength leave him. Falling to his knees he felt another spike of pain as the knife was ripped out. Standing behind him was the redhead Karin holding her bloody knife she had taken from Temari.

"Sasuke! I found you!"

Sasuke had managed to regain his composure and noticed the girl who saved his life. Turning back to his enemy he quickly kicked Neji so hard he was flipped onto his back. Rushing towards him he grabbed the elite by the head and cleanly snapped his neck. A cannon went off.

Ignoring Neji completely Karin ran over to Sasuke. "Sasuke! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said taking Neji's sword for his own. "Thanks to you."

She blushed slightly. "I've been looking for you all this time." She admitted. "I'm glad I got here when I did."

"Yes…" Sasuke paused. "That was lucky."

"And now that I'm here we can team up." She said. "We can kill the other six and then it'll just be you and me! How does that sound?"

Sasuke forced his face into a smile. "That sounds…great. I couldn't have done it without you." He suddenly pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Karin seemed momentarily surprised before eagerly hugging back.

Sasuke's right hand pulled Karin's knife out of her pocket. Gripping it hard he thrust it into her back just as she had done to Neji earlier. She let out a gasp; either from pain or surprise. But Sasuke did not relent. Instead he drove it in deeper to make sure she couldn't recover from it.

The redhead looked up into Sasuke's eyes. He hadn't wanted to look at her but found himself locking eyes with her anyway. He had expected to see surprise, anger and even hate at what he had done. Thus he was surprised when he saw none of these; instead there was understanding in her eyes. Understanding and even forgiveness.

As he looked at her surprised she nodded very slightly. "Win Sasuke…" She gasped. "Please win…" Sasuke let go of her body and she slumped down to the ground. A moment later a cannon went off in the distance.

"No…" Sasuke said suddenly feeling ashamed. "It's not like that! I…I just…" He gulped and quickly looked away. A minute later he turned back toward the two bodies. He ignored Neji but felt some obligation to Karin's.

Picking it up carefully he laid her out on the grass not too far away. He wiped the dirt off her face and readjusted her glasses. Once again he hesitated for a moment before leaning down and quickly putting a chaste kiss on her lips. It was quick and he was soon back on his feet. Pulling out his knife he cut off a strand of her hair and put it in his pocket. He walked away not looking at her. Gripping both swords he stopped for a moment and glanced back.

"I will win. I promise."

* * *

Kiba quietly stalked his prey. He had recently come upon recent tracks and had been eagerly trying to follow them. Since there were so few tributes left he knew he couldn't rely on his traps anymore and would have to find his prey himself. He was only too eager to find them and get this game over with.

But until then he would enjoy himself

Hinata wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. It was quite cold that late at night and it was the shy girl's time to be on watch. Sakura had figured since there were three of them someone should be on watch while they slept and it was Hinata's turn.

Shivering she rubbed her hands together. Warmth wasn't the only thing Hinata desired that night as she found herself very thirsty. She didn't have a canteen and had to drink from Naruto or Sakura's. But since they were asleep that wasn't really an option.

The night was quiet. She wondered, could she quickly go get a drink for herself and then come back? The lake wasn't far and she knew the way. But she'd feel bad leaving the other two when she knew it was her responsibility to watch over them. Then again there were only six of them left so there was little chance anyone would come by in the small amount of time she was gone.

Deciding it wouldn't hurt if she was quick about it Hinata stood up. Quickly and quietly she darted away from where they had made their camp and over toward the lake. She arrived to find the water calm. The moon reflected its rays on the water. Taking a few steps forward she stood on the edge looking around.

Meanwhile back at her camp Naruto was awoken from a nightmare. He didn't want to try to go back to sleep yet so he got out of the sleeping bag he and Sakura were sharing. "Hey Hinata, I thought I'd help you keep watch for a while." As he said this he looked around for the girl.

"Hinata? Oh crap!" He said realizing he was talking to himself. The girl was nowhere to be found. He turned around to where Sakura was sleeping. "Sakura wake up!" He shook the girl.

"What is it Naruto?" She said annoyed.

"Hinata's gone!" He said straight forward. "She's gone!"

This woke Sakura up. The pink haired girl immediately got to her feet and looked around. "She's gone but there doesn't seem to be a struggle. Have you heard a cannon go off?" Naruto shook his head. "Then I don't think she's dead and she probably hasn't been taken. There's no reason to kidnap someone anyway."

"What do you think happened?" Naruto asked desperately.

"She might've just walked off." Sakura answered. "She might not be in any danger at all."

"Really?" Naruto said relieved. "Where do you think she went?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura bit her lip. "It's not like her to just leave. But if she did then she might be at the lake. We should go look for her even if she's not in danger."

"What about our stuff?"

"Take the weapons but leave the rest. We won't need it."

They quickly made their way to the lake. What they saw shocked and enraged them. Kiba had ambushed Hinata as she reached the lake. They watched as he slashed an axe through her stomach.

"NO!"

Kiba turned to see Naruto and Sakura running towards him. Letting go of the axe he left it sticking out of Hinata before fleeing into the woods. As Naruto and Sakura reached Hinata she had fallen to the ground.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried out as he reached her. He held her shaking hand as she lay on her back. The axe was still sticking out of her and it was covered in her blood. Hinata's breathing was very uneven and far too frequent. The blood had left her face and it was now a chalky white color.

Sakura gently grabbed the handle of the axe in an attempt to pull it out but was met with a cry of pain from the injured girl. "I don't think I can pull it out!" She said turning to Naruto. "It's stuck in there really deep!"

"N-Naruto…" Hinata whispered as she tried to raise her hand toward the blonde. He grabbed the hand immediately to discover it was ice cold. Trying to ignore what his gut was telling him he looked the girl straight in the eye.

"It's going to be okay Hinata! We'll pull it out and you'll be fine!" He told her. "Just hold on okay?"

"N-Naruto…" She whispered his name again. "Y-You have to w-win…" A sudden gasp escaped her lips. "Please…I want you to w-win…" She closed her eyes.

"Hinata! No!" Naruto screamed as the cannon went off. "No! She can't be dead!" Unnoticed by him tears ran down his face.

"Naruto stop it!" Sakura said pulling him back. "She's dead! You have to let go!"

Naruto slapped her hand away but then suddenly stood up. He turned his head over to the spot where Kiba had run off. "That bastard! He killed her!" Rage filled Naruto's voice as he clenched his fists as hard as he could. "I'll kill him!"

Suddenly he ran off in that direction screaming and swearing. "Naruto Wait!" Sakura called after him. She had been caught unprepared for him to go off like that. But as soon as she got to her feet she ran after him.

Naruto was sprinting as fast as he could through the trees looking left and right for Hinata's murderer. But all he could see were trees. "Come out you son of a bitch!" he cried. "You coward! Where are you?"

Not too far south of his position Kiba laughed quietly. He had hidden himself well underneath a tree. He knew this area of the forest better than anyone and was sure he wouldn't be found no matter how hard that district twelve tribute screamed. But just as he was feeling proud of himself he heard something.

Looking up he was surprised to see the tribute Haku clinging to the side of a tree staring down at him. Kiba wondered what the other boy was doing but didn't dare say anything less Naruto heard him. What Haku was doing became quickly apparent however. Once he was sure he had Kiba's attention Haku started to kick at the thin tree.

It wobbled back and forth and its branches started to shake. Once Haku got going it went a few inches from side to side and brushed bristles with its neighbor trees. Pinecones started to fall out of the tree and Kiba mouthed the word _stop_ to him.

Haku however ignored him as he continued to make as much noise as he could. "Be quiet!" Kiba whispered at him angrily. Seeing no response he started to climb the tree but before he could get very far Haku dropped a rock on his face. This caused him to lose his grip and fall on his back.

All that sound caught Naruto's attention and he ran over with Sakura right behind him. "There you are!" he yelled once he spotted him. Pulling out his knife he looked like he was ready to plunge it into Kiba's heart. Seeing this Kiba quickly pulled himself to his feet and pulled out his own knife. The axe had been his real weapon and now he realized the mistake he had made leaving it when he had been discovered.

Naruto charged Kiba but as he got close the feral boy tried to take him by surprise by suddenly aiming his knife at the blonde's face. Kiba expected Naruto to pull back in surprise giving him time to attack but he was the one surprised when Naruto didn't back down. Instead he pushed out his left hand palm forward to take the attack.

Kiba's knife went through Naruto's hand but then was stopped while Naruto's knife punctured the lower right of Kiba's jacket. The spot turned red and as Naruto ripped the knife out blood started to pour from the wound.

"Ahhh! Shit!" Kiba cried out in pain. He tried to pull back his own knife that was lodged in Naruto's hand. As he did so the pain stopped Naruto in the middle of his attack. He nearly fell to his knees as he felt the knife being forcibly ripped from his hand.

But just as Kiba pulled his knife free Sakura appeared beside her friend. "Bastard!" She cried out thrusting her own knife straight into Kiba's right eye.

"Fuck!" Kiba screamed dropping his weapon and clutching at his face.

Having managed to push past the pain Naruto recovered enough to attack again. Suddenly his rage was back as he stabbed Kiba in his chest once. Then again, and again, and five time had passed.

"Naruto stop!" Sakura said grabbing hold of his arm which had stretched back to stab again. "He's dead! You got him! Now stop!" In his rage Naruto had missed the sound of the cannon going off alerting them that Kiba had indeed died.

The blonde dropped the weapon and fell panting to his knees beside the corpse. The pain from his stabbed hand along with the sight of the bloody corpse caused him to vomit the little he had eaten. Gasping and crying it took him a minute to wipe his mouth and get to his feet.

"We have to go back," Sakura told him wiping a tear out of her eye. "We can't…we can't just leave Hinata like that." Naruto suddenly remembered and felt shame. They quietly gathered their weapons and headed back to the lake never having realized Haku had watched the whole thing from above.

A few minutes later they made their way back to where they had left Hinata's body. It hadn't been touched and was lying exactly as it had been. Naruto had to pull the axe out of her chest as Sakura had refused to do it. She did however manage to clean her up and get most of the blood off.

They knew not to bury her since her body would be taken just like all the others but they did lean her up against a tree. Now she merely appeared to be peacefully sleeping which both agreed was an improvement. The sight had calmed Sakura down but Naruto looked just as angry as ever.

Suddenly he turned to the sky and shouted. "Fuck you!" He screamed at the game masters, the capital and anyone else who was listening. "You twisted bastards! How dare you? Who do you think you are forcing us to kill each other? You think this is some kind of game? This is real! This is your fault!" He said pointing toward Hinata. "She died because of you! Hinata didn't deserve to die! She never hurt anybody!"

His voice faltered and slipped into more of a whisper. "She never…hurt anybody…"

Then Sakura quietly bandaged the blonde's hand. "Naruto…" Sakura roused the boy. Her voice was slick with emotion. "We have to end this. I don't want to play anymore."

"But…if we're the last two left…" He pondered. "Which one of us gets to live?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "I don't know."

* * *

**Alive: Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Haku**

**Dead: Tayuya, Matsuri, Sasame, Chouji, Amaru, Kankuro, Shino, Dosu, Rock Lee, Kin, Shion, Gaara, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, Temari, Neji, Karin, Hinata, Kiba**

**A/N: Reviews are appreciated.**


	9. Finale

**A/N: This is it. The final chapter. By the end you will know the winner. I present the final chapter of the Naruto games.**

The Naruto Games

Chapter 9

The morning of the seventh day was greeted by rainclouds sent by the game masters. The sun did not make an appearance; only more clouds. It soon began to rain heavily. Big drops of water that fell everywhere and made everything wet. The four remaining tributes were soon soaked.

Naruto and Sakura had left the lake and instead searched for the remaining two elsewhere. Meanwhile Sasuke was on the hunt for Haku after the silent tribute had stolen some of his food supplies. Knowing he couldn't be too far ahead Sasuke searched for him high and low.

And as luck would have it Haku's movements had been restricted. It was raining far too heavily for him to be up in the trees jumping from branch to branch. Not only was it too slippery but he could hardly see two feet in front of his face. So instead Haku was on the ground like everyone else.

Sasuke chased him through the forest with a sword in each hand. He was having a very hard time trying to catch up as Haku had a good head start and was a skilled runner. He lunged through the forest at great leaps as Sasuke found it hard to keep up.

But with that much water it was only a matter of time. As Haku leapt forward he slipped in all that water and his body came crashing down. He hit the ground hard and his face landed in the mud. Spitting it out he turned over to see Sasuke had caught up to him and was mere feet away.

Haku threw one of his throwing knives he kept hidden in his shirt at Sasuke. It punctured his right shoulder. "Arggh!" Sasuke did not stop running but ripped the knife out of his shoulder with one hand as he ran.

As he came toward Haku the quiet boy pushed out with his upper body and kicked out with both legs. Both feet connected with Sasuke's stomach sending him hurtling backwards. He hit the ground with a thud a few feet away. Haku quickly pulled himself back to his feet and ran off.

Despite having the air knocked out of his lungs Sasuke was not about to give up. Trying to catch his breath he pulled himself to his feet. Tightening the grip on his swords he ran after the fleeing tribute.

Sasuke would've liked to throw something at Haku's back as he ran but dare not throw either of his swords. He still had a knife in his pocket but without being able to put one of his weapons down he didn't think he'd be able to throw it well enough to hit.

Haku was maybe twenty feet ahead of him now. He was no longer trying to lose his pursuer in the trees or trap him long enough to escape. Instead he was merely running straight ahead of him. Sasuke thought if he put all his energy into sprinting he might catch up to him. But just then Haku suddenly turned to the right into the trees and out of sight.

Surprised Sasuke kept running till he got to the same spot and turned right himself but right before he reached the trees Haku slashed at him with a knife. The weapon was parallel to his neck and it would surely cut his throat and kill him. But Sasuke had a split second to slip and chose to fall on his back rather than die.

Not prepared to miss Haku had to choose between fleeing and attacking again. He decided to redirect the knife and stab down at Sasuke's heart. However the seventh district tribute let go of his sword and grabbed Haku's wrist right before the knife cut him. Sasuke was inherently stronger than Haku and while he had him in his grasp he punched him in the face knocking him down.

Sasuke had expected a guy like Haku wouldn't be able to take a punch and thus was surprised when he quickly recovered and scampered away. Once again he had decided to flee rather than stay and fight. Sasuke was starting to get annoyed and without thinking hurled one of his swords at the teen.

The sword missed and as he ran to pick it up he almost lost sight of his target. Running in the general direction Sasuke wondered if Haku had managed to disappear somewhere in the rain when he found his way to the lake. Glancing around left and right he wondered if Haku had hidden himself in the water or something just as ridiculous.

Just then a throwing knife was hurled at him. Sasuke barely managed to block it with his swords before Haku appeared out of nowhere with two more. The first he flung straight at Sasuke's face. The dark haired teen only just turned his head to the side so the knife merely skimmed his ear; drawing blood.

But Sasuke had barely turned his head when Haku stabbed the second knife straight into his right knee. He would've tried to stab his chest but both swords were still blocking it. Sasuke screamed in pain and tried on reflex to slash at Haku. He quickly leapt back in time to avoid it.

Sasuke started to see double but continued to try to slash at Haku who was now weaponless. Even in his weakened state he got lucky and cut Haku on the left arm. It was a shallow cut but Haku seemed alarmed by it. He suddenly turned and flung himself into the lake.

Looking confused Sasuke stood there in the rain blinking as he saw Haku's head come up out of the water. "If you want to kill me," Haku spoke for the first time. "You'll have to come in here."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and cursed. Gripping the knife he pulled it out of his flesh and winced. He knew with his hurt leg he'd never be able to swim out there. And with no projectile weapons to aid him Haku was safe for now.

It was then that Sasuke noticed something for the first time since they had reached the lake. The rain that had been coming down so heavily was replaced with hail. The hail was heavy and it came down just as hard as the rain if not more so. A thought crossed his mind and Sasuke burst out laughing.

"Ah ha ha ha!" He laughed clutching at his sides. "Ha ha! Go ahead and stay in there Haku!" He yelled out toward the lake. "I don't even need to kill you anymore. You've seen to that!"

And with that final laugh Sasuke slowly walked off. Heading toward the cornucopia he did not bother to look back.

* * *

Less than an hour later the hail had turned to snow. Sakura and Naruto now tried to push through it in their attempt to find the last two tributes. Neither of the two of them were dressed for this kind of weather. Both wrapped their arms around their sides and shivered frightfully.

"S-Sakura," Naruto sniveled. "We need to find someplace where it isn't snowing! We're going to freeze to death!"

"I doubt there is a place where it isn't snowing." Sakura answered. "This is obviously the game masters trying to kill us all off!"

"I-I don't think they'd do that." Naruto shook his head. "They want us to kill each other."

"Then maybe…" Sakura looked thoughtful. "Maybe they're trying to herd us somewhere. Maybe there's one place that it isn't snowing and that's where they want us to fight. That way we won't have to look for each other."

"But where?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm…I'm not sure." She pondered for a moment. "This would be a lot easier if the arena was circular and there was a tower or something in the middle."

"Well there sure isn't a tower here." Realization hit Naruto. "But there is the cornucopia! What about that?"

"That must be it!" Sakura nodded. "It's the only actual manmade structure that we've seen. I'd bet my life that's where the other two will be."

"Let's hope you don't have to," the blonde frowned.

The two quickly made a turn in the opposite direction and headed toward the cornucopia. It wasn't too far from their current location but with the snow and howling wind it seemed miles and miles away.

They hadn't been walking long when they heard the sound of a cannon going off. They barely heard it over the storm but there was no mistaking the familiar sound. "Who do you think that was?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Sakura said trying to push herself forward. "Let's just hope it was the stronger of the two. Maybe we'll get lucky and whoever is left is badly wounded." But what neither Sakura nor Naruto knew was that it was Haku who had died. He had frozen to death soon after it started snowing. He got out of the lake but it was too late and he didn't manage to warm up in time. Instead his corpse lay frozen in the snow.

The pink haired girl even briefly hoped they'd soon hear the sound of another cannon going off but didn't get her wish. They kept walking but heard nothing but the wind against their frozen ears. When they got close to the cornucopia the two got out their weapons. Sakura had the two knives while Naruto was using the axe that Kiba had used to kill Hinata.

Their assumption had been correct as the area around the cornucopia was clear of snow or any weather at all. There wasn't a cloud in the sky despite a storm raging mere feet away. It was truly an amazing sight to behold. Once they got under the warmth of the sun they could not help but feel relieved as warmth once again spread through their bodies.

"This feels wonderful!" Sakura said rubbing her frozen hands together.

Meanwhile Naruto was looking around. "I don't see anyone. Do you reckon we beat the last tribute here?"

"They might be hiding," Sakura reckoned. "We need to be careful."

But just then Naruto's foot caught a wire. The trap wrapped itself around his ankle before pulling him forward. It slammed him right up against the cornucopia with quite a lot of force and held him there.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out. "Are you—mmm?" Her sentence was cut off in the middle as a hand wrapped itself over her mouth. The hand was there to muffle the scream as a sword was thrust through her back to come out of her stomach on the other side.

Sakura's eyes grew wide as pain racked her body. Blood poured out of the wound and down the length of her body. Despite having her mouth covered the sounds that did escape were horrifying to listen to. She struggled to escape his grasp but was restrained. Her struggles soon became twitches at which time the sword was quickly pulled out of her body.

A cannon went off.

From where he had been trapped Naruto had watched it all. "NO!" He screamed. "No! Sakura!" He sliced at the wire holding him up. After a few tries it cut through and he fell to the ground. The axe had fallen from his hands and lie on the ground a few feet away.

Sasuke watched Naruto escape from his trap and then fall. Knowing he had to attack before the blonde could reclaim his weapon Sasuke rushed forward both swords ready to strike.

Naruto fumbled on the ground. Hands groping for his weapon he scrambled forward sensing Sasuke's immediate approach. Suddenly his hands felt cold metal rather than grass. Realizing it was his weapon he quickly gripped it in his hands and without a moment's thought or hesitation he brought it up as fast as he could in a slashing motion.

The axe cut deeply into Sasuke's lower left stomach. He had just been about to strike Naruto with both his swords when the axe had shot up and cut through him like paper before freeing itself of his flesh.

Sasuke gasped; the scream caught in his throat. Blood poured out of his wound and he suddenly felt too weak to stand. He fell to his knees just as Naruto scrambled to his feet. The swords in his hand felt heavy and the strength to carry them seemed to have left him.

Once he realized Sasuke was no longer a threat Naruto had run past him without a second glance. He ran to Sakura and held her head up with his arm. "Sakura? Sakura!" He shook her slightly. "No please…" He gulped as fresh tears lit his cheeks. "Don't be dead! Don't leave me here. Don't leave me all alone…"

Meanwhile Sasuke glared angrily at the blonde. His thoughts were frantic and filled with panic. _No! This can't be it! I didn't come this far just to get second place and die! I still have to kill my brother and avenge my family! _

His left hand desperately reached for his sword handle. His grip was unsteady as he barely managed to hold onto his sword_. Get up_! He told himself. _Get up and fight damn it! _

Naruto had laid Sakura's head back down on the grass before turning toward Sasuke. He glared angrily at the weakened tribute. His hand gripped the axe as hard as he could before he brought it up to strike. Sasuke was helpless to defend himself and Naruto could see that. It would be easy. Kill him and it would all be over.

Naruto lowered the axe suddenly down to his waist. "I…don't care." He said. Sasuke looked at him confused. He had no idea what was going on or what he was doing. Why wasn't he attacking? "I don't give a shit about this game." He explained.

"I could win…but then what? It wouldn't do me any good. I'd still be alone. Hinata's dead, Sakura's dead, everybody else is dead! I don't want to be alone. I don't want to play their game anymore." He dropped the axe onto the grass.

"I want them to know that they can't control me." His voice was full of conviction as he said this. "That they do NOT own me! I am Naruto!" he shouted. "And I will stay Naruto. So you win."

Sasuke looked back and forth from Naruto to the axe lying untouched on the ground. He didn't believe it. But despite the precious seconds that passed nothing happened. There was no trick. It was real. Sasuke realized this.

While one of his hands held his wound closed the other gripped his sword. Using the last of his strength he stood up and slashed the blade across Naruto's throat. A quart of blood spilled out onto Sasuke and the grass and then Naruto's body fell to the ground.

A cannon went off. Followed closely by trumpets coming from all sides. Sasuke recognized it as the music that was played when someone won the hunger games. Falling back down to his knees he realized he had won. The sound of a helicopter filled the air behind him and he knew they were coming to take him back.

But just then Sasuke spotted something shiny. Lying on the ground was a small coin that had fallen out of Naruto's pocket when he died. There was a crow on the silver coin and Sasuke wondered what it meant. He closed his fingers around the coin and saw the men come to take him away. But before they could take him away he had already fallen unconscious.

Three days later Sasuke stood in the very center of the capital. The country's best doctors had worked extensively on him making sure he not only survived but was back to full health as quickly as possible. He now stood on a platform where thousands of people watched him receive his award. It was a great honor and he was congratulated for his success. No one mentioned how close he came to losing or that he had been given the win.

Sasuke himself was not sure how to feel about the mercy he had been given. He was glad he won but had always intended to do it alone. Never had he thought he would be shown pity by an opponent and allowed to win. So instead of worrying about it he tried to think of his goal. He was now one step closing to killing his brother.

As a speech in his honor was given Sasuke found himself paying less and less attention. Now he didn't hear the speech at all; instead he focused on the sound of his own heartbeat. Digging into his pockets he pulled out a strand of red hair from one and a coin with a crow on it from the other.

He felt oddly sad.

* * *

**A/N: I don't think many people will be happy with the winner, but you should know I planned it from the beginning. It's not a happy ending, but if only one person lives then it couldn't be a happy ending either way. This was really the only way I saw it ending. So thanks for reading. I didn't get a whole lot of reviews but I thank the people who did review. They rock. As always, reviews are appreciated. **


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